Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

The trademark of Arne Slot’s Liverpool has been a more measured, composed strategy when set against the wilder elements of Jurgen Klopp’s emotion-charged approach. This was an unstoppable combination of the two that Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City simply could not handle.

December may have only just been ushered in. The Premier League season may only be 13 games old. Even so, it seems impossible to imagine anyone overhauling Liverpool in this mood.

Speaking afterwards, even Slot conceded his side were “close” to perfection.

“At the end the result is the most important, but the performance was great,” he told BBC Match of the Day.

“If you want to win against a team like City you have to be good at every part of football. So high defending, low defending, build-up, high, low – everything. They bring so many challenges to you.”

The numbers certainly suggested Liverpool went for the more direct, pressurised approach, with 14.8% of their passes going long, compared to their season average of 9.1% before this game.

This was certainly a slight departure, a cocktail of old Klopp and new Slot.

Liverpool’s successful transition from Klopp to Slot carried a qualification early on. Namely, that it was all well and good, but who of consequence had they played?

Anfield has always been the most unforgiving place for Guardiola and so it proved once more, with City now remarkably not even in the Premier League’s top four.

In contrast, life could not be better for Slot, with a remarkable record of 18 wins from his first 20 games.

Defender Joe Gomez, in for injured Ibrahima Konate, was full of praise for Slot – and Klopp – as he told Match of the Day: “The biggest thing is that he is not trying to fill Jurgen’s shoes or be Jurgen.

“Jurgen’s legacy is stamped in the history of this club and cannot be changed. He [Slot] has been himself. It has been refreshing and all the coaching staff have been positive.”

Read Phil’s full piece here