**Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the season ended against Manchester City.**
The hosts were reduced to 10 men shortly after the hour mark when Ryan Gravenberch picked up his second booking for a foul on Jeremy Doku.
Erling Haaland compounded the Reds’ misery just three minutes later by rifling home the opener as Jeremy Doku’s effort rebounded into his path.
City extended their lead a short while later as provider turned poacher with Doku unleashing a stunning curled effort from distance beyond Alisson.
Rayan Cherki capped off a comprehensive second half for the visitors by sidestepping Jeremie Frimpong and stroking the ball into the far corner.
Andoni Iraola’s side dropped to ninth in the Premier League table after their first loss from eight games in all competitions since the start of the campaign.
_Here were the key talking points from Anfield:_
City feel the full wrath of L4
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It felt like destiny that Manchester City’s first on-field outing since being found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules took place at Anfield.
Here, more than any other top-flight club, has the impact of their industrial-scale misdeeds been felt with Liverpool denied at least one title in that time.
Eastlands chiefs continue to profess their innocence as the appeal process begins but that held little sway with Kopites as they unleashed full invective.
There has long been suspicions within this particular corner of L4 that City’s unprecedented success was unduly assisted by their Abu Dhabi overlords.
So it was little surprise that any opportunity to hammer home that fact following the independent regulatory commission’s verdict was seized upon.
Every piece of silverware that winged its way to the blue half of Manchester since 2011, including outside of the breach period, was hailed null and void.
Supporters even managed the last word on the visitors’ comprehensive win by greeting successful passes to City players with visceral shouts of ‘cheat’.
Liverpool have often served as English football’s trendsetters and the gambit that Enzo Maresca’s side endured is likely to be echoed across the top flight.
Reds still floored by frailties
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Andoni Iraola may have breathed new life into Liverpool this season but this result was a lesson that some cobwebs are still proving impossible to shake.
City’s previous victory on Merseyside, eight months ago, came from exposing what had already become familiar frailties in Arne Slot’s beleaguered reign.
The Dutchman may be long gone but those flaws still remain as evidenced by the all-too-familiar capitulation which followed Ryan Gravenberch’s dismissal.
Gravenberch was unfortunate to pick up a second booking for his foul on Jeremy Doku but had been walking a tightrope for the past quarter of an hour.
Losing the midfielder, enjoying a rare start owing to Dominik Szoboszlai’s fitness concern, turned what had been an even contest into a one-sided affair.
Without Gravenberch’s protective barrier, City were given free rein to expose their hosts’ defensive lapses with three goals in the space of just 13 minutes.
Iraola’s introductions did not so much stem the tide as encourage it, with Jeremie Frimpong finding himself sat down by Rayan Cherki for the third.
The Basque has coped admirably during his formative weeks at the helm but will need to find a panacea for Liverpool’s persistent Achilles heel problems.
Where will the goals come from?
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The international break could not have been worse timed for Liverpool.
Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo were in imperious form before the extended run of games for their country proved to be a seismic undoing at club level.
Without the injured pair, who produced six goals and five assists in the opening seven games, Iraola’s side had to find a different source of potency.
Yet the signs appeared ominous with a line-up boasting 54 combined Premier League goals, the lowest since the 47 against Luton Town in February 2024.
Any hopes of the load being shared around proved to be ambitious with Bradley Barcola struggling at the fulcrum despite his £123 million price tag.
Florian Wirtz, too, was unable to shake the heftiness of his own £100M valuation with another pedestrian performance after his Germany exploits.
Only Victor Munoz and Lewis Koumas, with solitary goals apiece, offered any real sense of attacking purpose but still came up short against City’s backline.
With Wednesday’s Champions League encounter at LASK coming hot on the heels of this defeat, Liverpool are in urgent need of a genuine goal-getter.