The Premier League returned to our screens with a bang as the fixture schedule whipped up another mammoth game with Manchester City taking on Liverpool. The game promised to be a high scoring affair and that proved to be the case with the Cityzens routing the Reds 5-0, underling the Manchester sides title credentials in the process.
The loss comes as a huge blow to Liverpool's title ambitions as a few weeks ago they were on the other side of the fence as they thrashed title pretenders Arsenal 4-0 before the international break. The loss for Liverpool couldn't have done more to help bring them back down to earth after a relatively good start.
Liverpool had Sadio Manè sent off for dangerous play and with Liverpool already a goal down things could only get worse. Liverpool proved to be ineffectual for the rest of the game as City executed a decent game plan.
As much as City deserve credit on the day you'd have to agree that Liverpool's deficiencies were rightly exposed as a simply executed game plan was all that was required to vanquish the Reds. City came into the game looking to sit in early on and deny Liverpool the space to do any damage.
This kept City in the game and it was inevitable, with David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne having a keen eye for a pass, that City would take advantage of Liverpool's soft spot: their defence. From there a bit of misfortune — with the red card — and the Reds’ house of cards collapsed as fast as Arsenal’s had at Anfield.
The catastrophe at the Etihad served to sober Liverpool to the reality of their situation; as good as they can be they just a mistake or two from being another Arsenal. Their predictability and lack of a strong defence will be their undoing against teams that won't go into games with the same naïveté as Arsenal had.
It should also be concerning to note that their weaknesses play right into the strengths of champions Chelsea and leaders Manchester United as both sides are based on a solid defence and with them sitting in Liverpool would be denied space in behind, rendering them close to harmless when they are forced to play in front of their opponents.
Not to mention the height, aerial ability and speed of those sides will surely do much to trouble an already compromised defence.
Liverpool are without a doubt the league's most tantalizing side with all their options in attack, but their lack of investment in their defence will always come to bite them at crucial times just as it has in the past.
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