Man City Outclass Liverpool 4-1 to Cut Arsenal's Lead

Man City's dominant 4-1 win over Liverpool briefly cut Arsenal's lead to five points. Liverpool's top-four hopes are at risk as they sit in six

Kevin De Bruyne celebrates after powering Man City past Liverpool on Saturday at the Etihad. City won 4-1. (Photo credit: Sporting News)

Man City demonstrated why they should be crowned Premier League champions by dominating Liverpool 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium, briefly cutting Arsenal's advantage at the top to five points.

Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez were reinstated to the Cityzens' starting squad, and Julian Alvarez filled in for the injured Erling Haaland.

Liverpool benched Darwin Nunez in favour of Diogo Jota, who started the game.

When Liverpool scored first, you could hear the jubilation in London, where Arsenal supporters were hoping Liverpool would help them out.

After a superb Jota layoff, Mohammed Salah scored his eleventh goal against Man City, forcing the latter to recover from a deficit.

The restoration of order didn't take more than ten minutes.

After a lovely cross from Jack Grealish, Alvarez scored from close range, and Liverpool never recovered.

A few minutes after the resumption, De Bruyne scored a leveller by tapping the ball home from close range.

Soon after Man City juggled the ball in their area, things only got worse for Liverpool, and after an attempt from Alvarez was blocked, it eventually fell to Ilkay Gundogan.

It all seemed insurmountable for the visitors at that juncture as the German machine gun fired past Alison.

Liverpool required a win to get closer to the top four, but Grealish, who was unquestionably the best player on the field that day, made things even worse for Liverpool with sixteen minutes remaining.

After combining with De Bruyne, the England midfielder slipped one past Alison to make it four.

With the same number of games played, the 4-1 victory reduced Arsenal's lead at the top to five points.

But the Gunners would soon defeat Leeds at home by the same score to regain the lead.

Liverpool, which is currently in sixth place, is at risk of finishing outside the top four.