A once great empire is crumbling, and Liverpool are rubbing their hands at the prospect of taking their place as England's top force

Mind the gap. Only 34 miles separate Manchester and Liverpool, and by the end of the season there could be an equally large distance between Pep Guardiola's crumbling City and Arne Slot's rampaging Reds, who lead their rivals by 11 points after Sunday's resounding 2-0 victory over the champions.

Only three teams in Premier League history have ever made up such a gap before to win the title, and on this evidence, City are highly unlikely to make it four. The scoreline was kind on Guardiola's side, who approached the game like a small team. They also played like one, and there was no sign of the team that has dominated English football over the last seven years.

City fell to a fourth-successive league defeat for the first time since August 2008, just when the club was being transformed by the Abu Dhabi takeover. The team feels like it is undergoing its own transformation at the moment, as a once all-conquering empire is crumbling.

Kyle Walker is in the eye of the storm after playing his part in both goals, while down the other end of the pitch, Erling Haaland looked utterly lost. He was chewed up and spat out by a gigantic Virgil van Dijk, who formed a formidable Dutch force alongside goal-scorer Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch, which was completed by Slot, who savoured another huge victory as Liverpool boss just days after his side beat Real Madrid.

And it was another day to remember for Mohamed Salah, who set up the first goal with a magical pass and then made sure of the victory by slamming home a penalty. If the Egyptian does end up signing a new contract with Liverpool, he can surely add an extra zero or two when he names his asking price.

GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Anfield…

Getty ImagesWINNER: Mohamed Salah

All eyes were on the Egyptian King after his pointed declarations about a lack of a contract offer from Liverpool, and he carried on what he has been doing all season and indeed throughout his career with the Reds: rising to the occasion. Salah's goal record is rightly fawned over, but he is equally impressive at creating chances for his team-mates, and his assist for Gakpo was a work of art.

The forward terrorised Manuel Akanji after latching on to Trent Alexander-Arnold's diagonal ball and delivered a truly stunning pass for his fellow forward which foxed the City defence and Stefan Ortega. Everyone seemed to think he was shooting and his effort was going wide, but Gakpo knew exactly what his team-mate was concocting and popped up to tap Liverpool in front.

It was Salah's 11th assist in all competitions of the season and his penalty, unerringly dispatched, took him on to 23 goal contributions just four months into the campaign. He is the second-top assist provider in the league – behind Bukayo Saka – and the second-leading scorer behind Erling Haaland. He is the most in-form player in the league and in arguably the best form of his career, a staggering achievement at the age of 32 and testament to the incredible work he does to stay in shape.

After the game, Salah kept up the narrative that this is going to be his last season with Liverpool, and it would be a crying shame if that is the case. It would not just be Liverpool's loss if he leaves; the Premier League would be losing not just an all-time great, but its best current player.

AdvertisementAFPLOSER: Kyle Walker

With each game in this miserable season, a chunk gets torn off Walker's standing as one of the Premier League's finest defenders. And at Anfield, his reputation was dealt two hammer blows. Unlike last week when Timo Werner destroyed him in a footrace, this was not a game where Walker's physical decline was on display. Instead, his performance demonstrated a worrying lack of concentration.

He was asleep at the wheel when Salah shaped to cross, letting Gakpo nip in behind him to score. It was far from the first recent example of Walker losing focus at a key moment and, coupled with him losing his physical edge, makes him a liability. When Walker did manage to race back and dispossess Luis Diaz later in the first half, there was a genuine feeling of surprise that he had managed to do something good; that is how far he has fallen this season.

Walker's misery was compounded when his intervention led to Liverpool winning the penalty which killed City off once and for all. He tried to help out Ruben Dias when he ran into trouble with Darwin Nunez, but instead he made the situation even worse, scuffing the ball backwards right towards the path of Diaz.

What makes matters worse is that Walker was completely rested against Feyenoord, in theory to keep him fresh for this crunch game. The week of rest did nothing for him and Walker has managed to look more of a spent force than he did after being embarrassed by Tottenham.

Getty Images SportWINNER: Arne Slot

The Liverpool boss has hailed Guardiola as his biggest influence, but here Slot schooled the Catalan with a perfect game-plan which was a homage to his predecessor Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool made a lightning start to the game, playing 'heavy metal' football. They didn't just take the game to City, they shoved it down their throats, barely letting them breathe. Liverpool could have been four goals to the good by half-time and the coach would have been entitled to feel frustrated that it took as long as the 78th minute for his side to score again and clinch the win.

The result rounded off an incredible week for Slot after overseeing Liverpool's first win over Real Madri since 2009, and his debut season keeps going from strength to strength. Not only has he won 18 of his opening 20 games, he has achieved some incredible scalps. His side have beaten City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Aston Villa in the league, while taking care of Madrid, AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.

Slot has made such an imposing start that he is making Klopp's record look a little shabby. The German failed to beat Madrid in six attempts, and although he is the coach to have made Guardiola suffer the most, he only won two of his last 12 league meetings with City. He won one of four title races with City, barely competing in the 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons. Slot, on the other hand, is on course to dethrone City in his first campaign at Anfield. Sure, Klopp left him with a great team, but Slot has refined Liverpool's style and made them not just better than City, but miles better than them.

AFPLOSER: Pep Guardiola

These are unprecedented times for Guardiola. The Catalan is well used to setting records, but now he is hitting milestones he never would have wanted to reach. Last week against Tottenham marked the first time he had lost five games in a row, and on Tuesday against Feyenoord he equalled his longest winless run of games as City boss. But things can always get worse. This is now his longest run of games (seven) without victory in his nine seasons at the Etihad Stadium, and this defeat marked the first time in the coach's 17-year career that he has lost four consecutive league games.

Guardiola said before the game that City and him might have to part ways if this miserable run continued, and there is little sign of it abating. The coach is now so used to hearing 'You're getting sacked in the morning' that he has a ready-made response: to hold up six fingers, one for each Premier League title win. Who does that remind you of? Yes, Guardiola is beginning to sound a lot like Jose Mourinho lately, pointing to his past successes in the face of his contemporary struggles.

The Catalan's touchline demeanour does not appear to be helping his players either. When City conceded their first goal against Feyenoord, Guardiola began waving his hands up in the air, pointing the blame at his charges when he should have been looking to encourage them.

Mourinho knows what it is like to be sacked halfway through a season just after winning the Premier League title; Guardiola might end up meeting the same fate if things do not improve.