City were impressive in their victory over the champions while neighbours Man Utd continue to build momentum in the hunt for European football
It's already shaping up to be an almighty battle for the Premier League title next season.
Liverpool may have wrapped up this season's edition with seven games to spare but there is no denying that deposed champions Manchester City delivered a shot across the bows of Jurgen Klopp and his team on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Manchester United gained more ground in the pursuit of Champions League football as Chelsea's topsy-turvy season continued with a damaging loss at West Ham.
Jose Mourinho looks no nearer to solving his Tottenham problems, meanwhile, following a 3-1 defeat away at Bramall Lane.
Here, then, is the tactical story of the matchday.
1) Man City’s counterattacking suggests Pep has discovered how to beat Klopp
Whether Liverpool were carrying the physical effects of last week’s celebrations or suffering an unconscious drop in motivation, their defensive collapse on Thursday night should not be taken as a sign of things to come.
In fact, they were competitive for the first 30 minutes, with a deliberate tactical strategy of chipping balls over the top of the Manchester City backline almost leading to a couple of early goals.
The style of Man City’s football was markedly different from how they usually approach this game, or any other for that matter.
He doesn’t like quick, improvised counterattacks because it stretches his players out of shape, creating end-to-end games and the sort of chaos his obsessive mind is desperate to control.
Not so last night, when Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, Gabriel Jesus, and Kevin De Bruyne moved at high speed to break through the middle, targeting the spaces left by Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
