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Manchester City beat Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield to stay perfect after six games, and all three goals came after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off for a second yellow card in the 62nd minute. The game was goalless and Liverpool were arguably on top until then; Erling Haaland scored 2 minutes 37 seconds after the red card, Jeremy Doku curled in a second three minutes later, and Rayan Cherki finished off a 41-pass move involving every City player for the third. Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola said it felt like "two different games", and it's his first league defeat since taking over. City, under Enzo Maresca, have 18 points from 18 and sit three clear of Arsenal.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1Manchester City arrive top of the table with five wins from five, 15 points and a goal difference of plus 11. Liverpool are 4th on 9 points, unbeaten but with three draws from five, which is a very Liverpool way of being fine without being quite fine. A City win opens up a six-point gap. A Liverpool win and the early-season story gets a lot more interesting.
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2This fixture is famous for the home side winning it. In the 30 or so league meetings up to early 2024, only two were won by the away team. So if you want a safe thing to say at the pub, say Anfield tends to decide this one, then act mildly surprised if City win anyway.
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3Alexander Isak is the one to ask about. He's Liverpool's record signing, so every goal gets priced against that fee, and every quiet game gets a raised eyebrow. He was getting back to fitness after an ankle problem earlier this year, so a big-game goal against the league leaders would shut up a lot of people. On the other side, City's Erling Haaland is the usual headache for any defence: you know exactly what he's going to do and it still doesn't help.
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4Team news is the thing to watch. No confirmed line-ups were available at the time of writing, so check the sheets an hour before kick-off. City have had defensive injury worries through the past year, and Liverpool's three draws suggest they're still working out how to turn control into goals. Whoever has the shakier back line will probably decide this.
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5The hook is simple: one side has won every game, the other hasn't lost any. Something has to give, or at least it will once somebody scores. City have scored 15 in five, Liverpool have conceded just three, so it's the best attack in the league against one of the tightest defences. Kick-off is 4:30pm UK time in Matchweek 6, which makes it the perfect Sunday afternoon excuse to stay on the sofa.
Team Talking Points
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1Liverpool won 3-1 at bottom side Crystal Palace on Sunday and climbed back into the top four. Alexis Mac Allister, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak scored. Coming after a sticky run, it was the result Andoni Iraola needed going into the break.
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2Wirtz's goal was his first in the league this season. For a player who cost a small fortune, that's been a running joke among rival fans. Liverpool supporters will insist his all-round play was always more important than goals, and they're partly right.
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3The international break hasn't been kind. Virgil van Dijk played the full 90 at Selhurst Park, then pulled out of the Netherlands squad, reportedly after playing through a minor problem for weeks. Dominik Szoboszlai picked up a knee sprain in the same game and is a doubt for Hungary. Neither is a disaster yet, but both are worth watching.
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4Alisson was named man of the match at Palace with several big saves, and he was unlucky to concede a stoppage-time penalty. That's a reminder that Liverpool's win was less comfortable than the scoreline suggests.
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5The fixtures coming up are huge. Manchester United visit Anfield on 22 November, and over the next few weeks a Merseyside derby against a high-flying Everton and a game against Chelsea follow. A month from now we'll know whether Iraola's Liverpool are genuine contenders or just good at beating teams at the bottom.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Wirtz finally scored in the league, so now everyone can stop asking. The real test is United, the derby and Chelsea in the next few weeks.
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Avoid saying
"Liverpool are nothing without Klopp" — he's been gone since 2024, they've won the league since, and it suggests your football knowledge stopped updating several seasons ago.
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1City have pulled off a genuinely weird piece of history: they won their first seven league games, then lost the next three. According to Sky Sports, no top-flight team had done that in 122 years. Mention it and a City fan will tell you it's a blip. Their face will tell you they're not entirely sure.
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2The latest defeat was a 3-1 loss at Nottingham Forest last Saturday. Former City academy striker Liam Delap scored twice against his old club, which is football's favourite way of being cruel. City now spend the international break six points behind leaders Arsenal.
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3Enzo Maresca is the man in charge now. He was blunt after Forest, saying the first half 'was not good enough' and calling the second and third goals 'copy and paste'. When a manager starts describing goals like a computer error, the defending was probably bad.
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4There's an injury worry too. Marc Guehi and Josko Gvardiol, two first-choice centre-backs, both went off at half-time at Forest with knocks. Ask a City fan whether the pair will be fit after the break and you'll sound like you've been reading the medical updates.
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5Then there's the elephant in the room. At the end of September an independent commission found City guilty of 114 of the famous 115 Premier League charges over their finances. The club is appealing and nobody knows the punishment yet. Raise it carefully, or better still, let them raise it.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Seven straight wins, then three straight defeats. City have basically done a whole season's mood swings before Bonfire Night.
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Avoid saying
"Just give it to Haaland and they'll be fine." They did give it to Haaland at Forest, and his shot got cleared off the line. City's problem right now is the defending, and any fan will tell you so at length.