Red alert as City blow champions away in Pep's 1,000th match

LIVERPOOL'S recent fragilities reared their head once again yesterday as the Reds were comfortably beaten 3-0 by Manchester City at the Etihad.

- By MICHAEL PLANT

Pep Guardiola, flanked by goalscorer Erling Haaland, acknowledges the acclaim of the Etihad crowd on his 1,000th match as a head coach

Goals from Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku secured a seismic win for Pep Guardiola’s side that leaves Liverpool's title hopes in tatters at this early stage of the season.

After the euphoria of the midweek win over Real Madrid, Liverpool came crashing back down to earth, as they suffered a fifth league defeat in sixand Arne Slot’s biggest loss as Reds boss.

He will have a long two weeks to reflect on the disappointing display over the November international break, and there is plenty to unpick from this dreadful trip to Manchester.

Slot referenced pre-match how Liverpool had performed better in recent weeks against sides that played a shorter passing game. The same was expected against City, but Guardiola’s charges didn’t repeat the errors of Aston Villa and Real Madrid, and his team played with swagger and purpose.