‘Champions Elect’? Liverpool Demolish Man City to Go 11 Points Clear

The Egyptian initiated the scoring with his 30th goal of the season and then assisted Dominik Szoboszlai, allowing him to increase the lead before halftime.

Mere days following their Champions League exit to Real Madrid, the dethroned English champions faced another humbling defeat. They now trail 20 points behind the leaders.

During Pep Guardiola’s remarkable tenure, Liverpool has frequently fallen just short in what has become English football’s notable rivalry of recent years.

However, under Arne Slot’s leadership in his debut season, they seem just months away from equaling Manchester United’s record of 20 English top-flight titles.

Arsenal’s unexpected 1-0 home defeat to West Ham on Saturday alleviated the pressure that had mounted on Liverpool due to dropping points in two of their last three games against Everton and Aston Villa.

Visiting the Etihad has long been one of the toughest challenges, but City’s defensive weaknesses were readily apparent, and they sorely felt the absence of injured Erling Haaland in their attacking lineup.

In contrast, Liverpool had their key player in top form as Salah impressively increased his tally this season to 25 goals and 16 assists across 27 Premier League matches.

The visitors took the lead on 14 minutes when the Egyptian expertly finished off a brilliantly executed set-piece routine.

Alexis Mac Allister’s corner was deflected by Szoboszlai towards Salah, whose shot then bounced off Nathan Ake and eluded Ederson’s desperate dive.

At the opposite end, City’s Egyptian international demonstrated his finishing skills. However, Omar Marmoush was offside before receiving a pass from Phil Foden.

City winger Jeremy Doku effortlessly dribbled past Trent Alexander-Arnold, but the Belgian repeatedly struggled to produce an impactful cross or shot.

Salah was less forgiving as he sprinted onto a long ball over the defense and set up Szoboszlai to outmaneuver Ederson.

The final outcome for City might have been far more humiliating if Liverpool had been more precise on the counter-attack after halftime.

Curtis Jones’ third goal was disallowed following a VAR review for offside, as Szoboszlai narrowly mistimed his run through the center of City’s defense.

Ederson was compelled to make a remarkable save against Luis Diaz, and it took an excellent last-ditch tackle from Abdukodir Khusanov to prevent Szoboszlai from scoring a second goal.

Marmoush notched a hat-trick in last weekend’s 4-0 victory against Newcastle and continued to be a dynamic threat, sending another shot just wide of Alisson Becker’s goal.

However, City couldn’t convert their nearly 70 percent possession into tangible results.

Despite suffering their eighth league defeat of the season, Guardiola’s team still holds onto fourth place and remains optimistic about securing a spot in next year’s Champions League. A top-five finish is likely to suffice for qualification.

After an extraordinary streak of winning four consecutive titles, City now appear to be a team of the past, with Liverpool emerging as the likely future champions.