Manchester City had just beaten West Ham 4-0 to maintain their unbeaten start to the Premier League season, and with it a two-point gap at the top of the table. But Pep Guardiola was eager to pay tribute to their nearest challengers.

“This is the best start ever for Liverpool in their huge history,” he said. “It will mean we don’t forget what we have to do. If people want to do what nobody has done in the last ten years,” he continued, discussing City’s hopes of retaining the title, “then we have to accept the challenge.”

It was far from an empty platitude or throwaway statement. After facing little to no opposition to the throne last season, City needed fresh impetus to guard against complacency. Guardiola used Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund to great effect as the foils for his Barcelona and Bayern Munich achievements, and was ready to use Liverpool as the biggest threat to his latest game of monopoly.

To win a title by a record margin is a double-edged sword. City were utterly irresistible at times last season but maintaining such high standards is always a thankless and energy-sapping task. They lapped everyone else by the turn of the year, and could not possibly keep that pace. Liverpool renewed their focus.

Or at least that was the theory. The problem was that Liverpool just kept on winning, while City stumbled and stuttered. Three defeats in four December games left them staring at a gap that they have only been able to partially close since.

The remnants of that terrible run of form were on full display against Huddersfield on Sunday. Less than 24 hours after Liverpool made heavy work of beating Crystal Palace at home, City similarly had to huff and puff before blowing the league’s worst team down. They are taking the challenge of matching the leaders stride for stride all too literally.

“Drifting” was the word Gary Neville repeated on commentary when watching a listless, uninspired first-half performance. This was Goliath versus David, only Wagner had left just days earlier to further weaken the underdog, yet City toiled as Town spoiled.

It was a difficult atmosphere to play in, but City made things exponentially worse for themselves. The champions are at their absolute best when they play instinctively, stretching teams with explosive movement and quick, short passes. The sheer amount of carbon-copy goals they score – patient build-up followed by a sudden ball into a wide player on the byline, then a tap-in from six yards – suggests it’s almost automatic at times.

Yet they seemed to over-think, even doubt themselves on Sunday. England’s highest scorers (99 goals) had as many shots on target as its lowest (13 goals) in the first half, and Danilo’s effort only broke the deadlock after taking a wicked deflection.

City misplaced 54 passes in the opening 45 minutes, their second highest amount in any half of Premier League football this season. They misplaced 64 passes in the first half of the victory over Liverpool, but such inaccuracy was forced by a team working incredibly hard off the ball and applying pressure to every player. Town sat off for large swathes here and still Kyle Walker and even Fernandinho and Kevin de Bruyne made avoidable mistakes.

What a shame that the All or Nothing: Manchester City documentary went much the same way as any Marvel series on Netflix and was not renewed for another season. Guardiola’s half-time team talk must have been a sight and a sound to behold, with the Spaniard’s decision to make no substitutions a clear warning to his under-performing players.

They eventually rose to that particular challenge. Raheem Sterling silenced the boos with a diving header, while Leroy Sane added a third in a second half that City controlled. But Guardiola’s first-half concerns will far outweigh his second-half relief. A better side would have punished such a lacklustre display.

City could afford such poor performances over 45 minutes last season, such was the lack of a genuine challenge. But if the standards slip any further than they did in the first half, Liverpool will relish the chance to compound their misery.

Matt Stead