Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola's 'six fingers' gimmick has sparked debate across the world having reminded Liverpool fans how many times he has won the Premier League.
And BBC pundit and former top-flight stalwart Michael Brown has claimed that he had a conversation with somebody before the game, who told him that the Spaniard would be 'gracious in defeat' if they did lose on Merseyside - only to rile the crowd up with a solemn reminder.
Brown Conversation Felt Guardiola 'Would Be Gracious in Defeat'
The Spaniard light-heartedly joked with the Anfield crowd despite his side's loss
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Speaking on the BBC's 'Premier League Review', Brown stated that he'd had a conversation with somebody in the tunnel about Guardiola before the game who said he'd be gracious in defeat.
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However, the Spaniard stuck six fingers up to the Anfield crowd to remind them how many league titles he had won since taking over at the Etihad Stadium. Brown said:
"I was in the tunnel before the game actually, and I was wondering - I had a conversation with somebody about what he would be like afterwards if it didn't go so well in this game.
"And the point was said to me, it felt like he was always very gracious in defeat. He felt like it's important to come out and actually give the credit to the opposition. And I think if he can stick with that it'll go a long way.
"I think we still saw a bit of the frustration coming out regarding hitting back, in regards to 'why didn't they do that when we were winning the title? They should know about the six titles'.
"That's his sort of little way of saying and just a little reminded of going 'come on guys, don't give me any stick - I've been there and done it.'"
The win for Liverpool put them nine points ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea, and eleven points clear of City, who are now fifth in the Premier League table - which is almost an alien position for them to be in at this stage of the season.
It will be an extremely tough road to navigate to even end up level on points with the Reds, and that's without dropping any more points whilst hoping that the Anfield outfit drop some themselves to open the door to the current champions.
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Statistics courtesy of WhoScored. Correct as of 02-12-24.