LIVERPOOL, England -- Pep Guardiola concluded his long praise of Liverpool after Manchester City's 3-1 defeat at Anfield by tagging them as "the best team, right now, in the world." Meanwhile, City midfielder Bernardo Silva, wrestled with the reality that "you can play better than them and still be 2-0, 3-0 behind" in the aftermath of the loss, which left the defending champions fourth and nine points adrift of Jurgen Klopp's league leaders.

The most accurate appraisal of this Liverpool group came from a man who used to thrive on being the ultimate Anfield bandit, Jose Mourinho. He stole a handful of wins there as a manager and also spent much of his career locked in an exacting battle with Pep Guardiola. In his role as Sky Sports pundit extraordinaire, Mourinho described Klopp's men as "the complete puzzle" and those words help explain just how Liverpool got the better of Man City on Sunday.

Liverpool won the midfield battle -- Fabinho, Georginio Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson served as destroyers, creators and in the case of the Brazilian, a goal scorer. The trio were physical, disciplined, press-resistant and accomplished in and out of possession. While City were brilliant on the ball, they were a distinct second best without it.

Then there were Liverpool's full-backs, who continue to show why they are the standouts in their positions this season. Trent Alexander-Arnold's diagonal pass to Andy Robertson, delivered with precision and the air of a pedigreed midfielder with his weaker left foot, saw the left-back then supply a teasing cross to the far post for Mohamed Salah to head in the second goal.

"I don't think I ever saw a goal like this. Probably not," Klopp said postmatch. "A right full-back with a 60-yard pass to the left full-back; two more touches and a cross over 40 yards, 50, and a header. That's pretty special. It was a good moment to score a goal like this." The pair played two key passes each on Sunday, with Alexander-Arnold having the most touches and making the most passes for Liverpool. Between them, they had three interceptions, five clearances, two tackles and seven possession gains.

In an exclusive with ESPN in May, Alexander-Arnold revealed how important his role has become. "Just as Ashley Cole did when I was growing up, I want to change the way full-backs are thought of along with Robbo," he said. "We want to show that full-backs often influence a game a lot more than positions that are traditionally thought of as the most prestigious. It's a valuable role as Klopp and Guardiola have both said, and it's certainly one of the most demanding." The pair achieved that on Sunday and Alexander-Arnold dealt with Raheem Sterling, City's best player at Anfield, superbly.