It's a sign of how much Manchester City are struggling that losing 2-0 at Anfield felt like more of a victory than the point a home to Feyenoord.
Second best on the day, fifth best in the league standings, relegation battle in the form table. A seventh match without victory in all competitions ends Pep Guardiola's title hopes for all but the most optimistic Blues, and the manager left Anfield to a chorus telling him he'd be sacked in the morning and with no more answers to the many problems his team face.
It was startling for Guardiola to drop Ederson - at fault for at least one of the goals against Feyenoord but also one of City's best players this season - but the decision started to make more and more sense as the game kicked off and the Blues were startlingly exposed. In the opening 20 minutes, the post came to the rescue twice, Stefan Ortega made two excellent stops and they still found themselves 1-0 down.
READ MORE: Why Ederson was on Man City bench as Stefan Ortega started vs Liverpool
READ MORE: Man City player ratings vs Liverpool FC including Kyle Walker disaster
From basically the first minute, City had Ruben Dias from a goal kick putting his foot on the ball and waiting for Liverpool to come to him. This was exactly the thing that Guardiola had said earlier in the season his team wouldn't or couldn't do, because the expectation was that they would play.
The problem with that is that City looked uncomfortable doing something that is normally seen by their opponents at the Etihad, and Liverpool in their form were only too happy to come. The visitors were fortunate to still be in the game after a bewildering start that saw them unable to keep hold of the ball or the game, relieved only by Liverpool not making he most of the glaring chances they created.
It wasn't just that City were struggling defensively, but when they did get up the pitch they had no ideas. Erling Haaland got minimal service and his touches were heavy when he did get the ball, while even from dead balls City were second-best.
One free-kick in Liverpool territory began with Kyle Walker arguing with referee Chris Kavanagh for no obvious reason, only for him to rush back to the ball and touch it for Bernardo Silva to take on. If Liverpool were surprised, they simply closed down Silva and he passed it to Walker, who then stunned Silva by giving it back to him; a desperate chip forward went straight to Kelleher and Liverpool attacked again.
Silva and Walker have been mighty parts of an almighty team that has won six of the last seven Premier League titles and it is worth pointing out Guardiola's comment that these players won the title a few months ago, so they have not become bad players overnight (however poorly Walker is playing). So what on earth has happened to this team? And can they get it back?
That is a question that was being asked in the build-up to this game and in addition to extensive work that looks necessary in the summer transfer market City may even have to move in January. Good luck finding the one (or two) players that will prove an instant fix though.
After such a difficult start, City did stabilise as the first half went on and their fragile confidence grew with every minute they were still in the game. Rico Lewis began to find space in the pockets and the team came closer to finding Haaland.
Jeremy Doku added to the momentum when he came on before the hour mark, not only holding onto the ball but dribbling past players to cause some nerves around the Kop. This came after Salah had wasted another glorious chance to put the game to bed as he fired over from a City mistake.
From a City perspective, you could take a bit of heart from the fightback in the second half but it had to be limited because there was no guarantee it would transform into them getting a result - it didn't because Salah scored a penalty 15 minutes form time after Luis Dias was brought down by Ortega - but also because there isn't any confidence that it will lead to them beating Nottingham Forest on Wednesday. As the Blues have found out over the last seven painful games, a decent spell won't win you many football matches when the rest of the 90 minutes isn't good enough.
And just as Guardiola is right to point out that these players won the league not so long ago, this has been on the cards for a while. Guardiola picked a starting XI that contained no league goals this season except for Haaland, so it can't have been a huge shock to anybody that they didn't look like scoring.
The taunts to Guardiola from the home end that he was getting sacked in the morning didn't even seem to have the ferocity in it that it might have done a few years ago, sensing that this was not the side of previous years that had come to Anfield and battled with much more quality. Guardiola laughed and pointed six fingers to the crowd in response, but knows that even he cannot rely on the past to sort out the many problems of he present.
City looked like they feared the worst from the first minute at Anfield. They need to make sure the rest of the season does not turn into what supporters fear it could after this slump.
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Keep warm on the sidelines
Beat the cold weather with these winter warmers
There's plenty of deals to keep you warm from head to toe on match day.
We've found heated clothing like gloves, gilets and hats, plus foot warmers and a simple thermal beanie that'll help you beat the winter weather.
from £9.99
Various
Shop here
Black Friday is an annual shopping event of massive discounts. You can check out all the latest Black Friday weekend bargains and offers here.