Liverpool suffered a chastening 4-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester City.

The visitors spurned an early chance to take the lead in the first half when Fabinho fouled Raheem Sterling as he weaved his way into the penalty area.

Ilkay Gundogan skied the ensuing spot kick into the Kop before redeeming himself after the interval as scored from Alisson parrying a Phil Foden effort.

Jurgen Klopp’s side drew level on 63 minutes as Mohamed Salah was brought down by Ruben Dias in the area and successfully converted from 12 yards.

But successive errors from Alisson allowed City to open up a lead, first as his botched clearance found Foden, who teed up Gundogan for a simple finish.

The Brazilian’s follow-up was equally damning, gifting the ball to Bernardo Silva to in turn feed ex-Reds forward Sterling for a diving far-post header.

A difficult afternoon only got worse just seven minutes from time as Foden rounded off City’s first Anfield win since 2003 with a brilliant individual effort.

Here were the key talking points from Anfield:

A true Blue humiliation for Reds

 

Manchester City’s first win at Anfield since 2003 has been a long time coming, but not even they could have anticipated it would be this simple to achieve.

Humiliations never used to come easy to Liverpool on home soil. Their third Premier League defeat in just two-and-a-half weeks tells a different tale.

Two goalkeeping blunders ultimately derailed an afternoon which began in promise, with Jurgen Klopp’s side matching the visitors for the best part.

In truth, the tide turned before Alisson gifted City two of the easiest goals they will score this season but it put the Reds’ own struggles into context.

For all the legitimate gripes about injuries this season, they still travelled to Merseyside without talismans Kevin de Bruyne or Sergio Aguero to call upon.

Pep Guardiola has found ways to win from such positions of adversity while his opposite number scrambles for an explanation to his own side’s malaise.

It’s why City are running unopposed as Liverpool sift through the wreckage of a massacred title defence which failed to make it to Valentine’s Day.

Alisson finally suffers No.1 curse

 

Nearly three years in, Anfield’s no.1 curse has finally claimed another victim.

Anyone assuming the status of Liverpool’s first-choice goalkeeper will be fully aware that moments of sheer calamity lurks around the corner at some stage.

Three minutes of second-half madness saw Alisson finally join a fraternity which includes Loris Karius, Simon Mignolet, Pepe Reina and Jerzy Dudek.

Conceding one goal through a heavily misplaced pass is unfortunate but to do it twice in swift succession is an act which can only be considered careless.

Even Klopp was at a loss as to why the Brazilian took leave of his senses in abandoning the safe option, especially with the game still delicately poised.

Alisson will win more points over the course of his Liverpool career than those that previously suffered a similar fate in their respective spells as custodians.

This ordeal can only serve as a motivation to ensure it does not happen again.

Thiago must stop toeing the line

 

Guardiola knows just how important Thiago Alcantara can be to any team.

The Catalan rated his former Barcelona pupil so highly that re-signing him became a priority in taking the reins at Bayern Munich almost eight years ago.

But Thiago proved more useful to Guardiola by being his opposite number in this game with an all-too-familiar pattern already emerging from the enforcer.

An early foul on Ilkay Gundogan saw the Spain international pick up a booking which limited his overall impact during the ensuing 65 minutes on the pitch.

That caution took Thiago’s stats to 24 fouls in 682 minutes of Premier League football, more than any City player and second only at Anfield to Sadio Mane.

Making a series of late and occasionally rash challenges has been a recurring theme for Liverpool’s no.6 ever since his feted arrival from the Allianz Arena.

The knock-on effect is that he cannot properly take command of the midfield battles with the threat of a second yellow card firmly hanging over his head.

Until Thiago stops toeing the disciplinary line for large periods of matches, Liverpool will never see the full benefits of a player hailed as a game-changer.

Henderson now wasted in defence

 

Admittedly Thiago’s struggle to adapt has not been helped by the disruption to the ailing champions’ midfield core during his formative months in L4.

Klopp resisted the temptation to reintegrate Jordan Henderson and Fabinho into their preferred roles despite signing some overdue centre-back cover.

Ozan Kabak received international clearance but not the nod to leave the substitutes’ bench. Fellow recruit Ben Davies did not even make it that far.

What the Liverpool manager felt he gained from having two experienced players in the heart of defence, however, he lost far more in the middle.

Both Henderson and Fabinho stepped into the void at the back due to injuries but they are now wasted there with Kabak and Davies waiting in the wings.

The FWA Footballer of the Year is becoming a particularly sore miss and would have certainly helped his team stifle City’s counter-pressing tactic.

Klopp knows Henderson’s engine is better utilised in his stock in trade, where his able to add genuine vitality and direction to Liverpool’s pattern of play.