The money from Abu Dhabi has managed to fix most things that were broken at Manchester City but not their record at Anfield, which has remained dreadful. Since Boxing Day 1981, they had managed a single win in the red half of Merseyside and that was 13 years ago.

Few of Manchester City’s Anfield defeats could have hurt as badly as this one. In what felt like one of the games of the season, Liverpool largely lived up to their pre-match billing while Manchester City emphatically did not. Once Gigi Wijnaldum put Liverpool ahead in the eighth minute, it was a lead they seldom looked like squandering.

Like the new year fireworks that exploded over the stadium during the interval, it may be premature to make judgements but in the race to catch Antonio Conte’s remorseless machine, Liverpool look the better placed. They are six points rather than 10 adrift of Chelsea and they will not have the encumbrance of European football in the second half of the season.

That Boxing Day defeat in 1981 left Liverpool 12th, nine points adrift of the leaders, Swansea, in the days when a win gave you two. Bob Paisley rallied his men to win the title and Jürgen Klopp finds himself in a better position. Pep Guardiola, in contrast, is nowhere near where he expected to be when 2017 opens.

Klopp versus Guardiola pitched them where they found themselves in the Bundesliga. Guardiola at the club with the money, Klopp in charge of a club that prides itself on its passion with Borussia Dortmund’s ‘Yellow Wall’ replaced by the red wall of Anfield’s Kop. Like the clashes between Bayern Munich and Dortmund, this seemed like a game between two teams at their peak. We were half right. Liverpool before the interval were exhilarating while Manchester City delivered their limpest 45 minutes of the season.

Wijnaldum rose highest to head in Adam Lallana's deep cross (Getty)

Before this game, Guardiola had remarked that Klopp was probably the best manager in the world when it came to attacking play and Liverpool took just eight minutes to prove it. There were three Manchester City defenders around Wijnaldum when he moved to meet a deep and fabulously-delivered cross from Adam Lallana but none got near the Dutchman whose header thundered into the corner of Claudio Bravo’s net.

When it came to picking up survivors from the wreckage of Newcastle United in May, Liverpool did better with Wijnaldum than Tottenham did with their £30m transfer of Moussa Sissoko.

Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Show all 23 1 /23 Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings <b>Liverpool:</b> Alisson: 6 out of 10 Not his busiest afternoon. Looked uncomfortable in possession a couple of times but nothing egregious. REUTERS Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Joe Gomez: 6 out of 10 More of a centre-back than a right-back and Liverpool missed Trent Alexander-Arnold’s ability to get forward on the right. Defensively solid, as you would expect. EPA Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Dejan Lovren: 8 out of 10 Perhaps fortunate not to concede a penalty on Aguero in the first half, and on Jesus in the second, but otherwise a good performance with some crucial challenges. Rewarded his manager’s bold call to bring the Croatian in. REUTERS Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Virgil van Djik: 7 out of 10 Probably a leading contender for man of the match until his late transgression. A fairly needless challenge on Sane with the German likely running the ball out of play. Otherwise magnificent (again). REUTERS Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Andrew Robertson: 6 out of 10 Kept Riyad Mahrez virtually silent throughout the game, but wasn’t his usual self in terms of attacking threat. REUTERS Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Georginio Wijnaldum: 6 out of 10 Hard work as ever from the Dutchman. Unable to impact the game going forward. REUTERS Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Jordan Henderson: 7 out of 10 Lead from the front with a battling performance in midfield. Composed on the ball and tackled excellently. AFP/Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings James Milner: 6 out of 10 Substituted in the first half with a hamstring injury. Impressed early on, and Liverpool perhaps missed his experience and delivery when he went off. AFP/Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Mohamed Salah: 5 out of 10 Still doesn't look himself. Wasted a couple of opportunities and the front-three’s lack of cohesion will be a concern for Jurgen Klopp. Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Roberto Firmino: 6 out of 10 Pressed superbly and tracked back notably well. Not a vintage performance from any of Liverpool’s star offensive trio against a tough Manchester City defence. PA Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Sadio Mane: 6 out of 10 See Salah and Firmino. Mane was similarly ineffective getting forward but worked hard. AFP/Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings <b>Substitute:</b> Naby Keita: 6 out of 10 Tidy performance after coming off the bench in the first half. Positionally very solid. REUTERS Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings <b>Manchester City:</b> Ederson: 6 out of 10 No major errors, which is a positive given what happened last season. Liverpool’s press worried him early on but otherwise comfortable with the ball at this feet. No real saves to make. PA Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Kyle Walker: 6 out of 10 Restricted going forward aside from one moment where he bizarrely chopped back inside. Defensively solid. EPA Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings John Stones: 7 out of 10 Overcame early nerves to perform well alongside Laporte. Salah only really got beyond the pair once and Stones used the ball nicely when stepping out of defence. Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Aymeric Laporte: 8 out of 10 Perhaps his best performance in a Manchester City shirt. Virtually faultless after the aforementioned early shakiness. Several superb challenges and interceptions. AFP/Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Benjamin Mendy: 7 out of 10 Guardiola will be very pleased to have Mendy fit again. Showed his defensive steel, not giving Salah and co. an inch. Looked one of Manchester City’s more dangerous players when he got forward. A couple of poor passes but otherwise a strong return to action. Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Fernandinho: 6 out of 10 Somehow escaped the game without a yellow card despite several booking-worthy challenges, but broke up play well and sparked several attacks for his team. Shielded his defence well. AFP/Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Bernardo Silva: 7 out of 10 Probably the best non-defender on the pitch. Playing in what was, for all intents and purposes, a two-man defensive midfield pairing, Silva was excellent, breaking up play and playing clever little passes. Showed his electric dribbling ability more than once, too. Impressive performance from a man who continues to show his versatility. AFP/Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings David Silva: 6 out of 10 An intriguing tactical switch from Guardiola to deploy David Silva in a different role just in behind Sergio Aguero. Silva was less influential than he typically is, but worried the Liverpool midfield and knocked them off rhythm. REUTERS Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Raheem Sterling: 5 out of 10 Quiet and struggled to make an impact in the final third. Sterling didn’t look entirely comfortable on the left wing. Substituted with 15 minutes to go. PA Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Riyad Mahrez: 4 out of 10 Awful, awful penalty miss, and in truth it characterised a lacklustre showing from Mahrez. He hasn’t really found his place in this Manchester City team and used the ball poorly in the final third throughout. AFP/Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings Sergio Aguero: 5 out of 10 Continued his lean run against Liverpool and was anonymous for most of the 65-or-so minutes he was on the pitch. Contributed little. AFP/Getty Images

Manchester City have regularly conceded early goals under Guardiola and this was the sixth time they had done so in the opening quarter of an hour. This time, however, they seemed to have little idea how to claw their way back into the game.

Raheem Sterling would have known what to expect on his return to Anfield. The booing was relentless and there were plenty of repetitions of football’s most inaccurate chant: “There’s only one greedy b*stard.”

The anger from the stands did not inspire Sterling. There were a couple of insipid crosses and one moment when he tangled with Roberto Firmino by his own corner flag, got into terrible trouble and had to be rescued by Pablo Zabaleta.

Jurgen Klopp embraces Wijnaldum after Liverpool's win over Manchester City (Getty)

There was a lack of drive about much of Manchester City’s play. In any midfield square-up between Yaya Toure and Wijnaldum, you would back the great Ivorian but this time Wijnaldum flicked the ball over Toure with the kind of arrogance that was matched when Simon Mignolet, well out of his area, juggled the ball in front of Sergio Aguero. Returning for his first game since his dismissal in the 3-1 defeat by Chelsea at the start of the month, Aguero touched the ball four times in the first half. Not even Gerd Müller in his pomp would have had an impact with service like that.

He produced City’s first shot on target in the 54th minute, a low drive, lacking power, which rolled into Mignolet’s arms. Manchester City were better after that. They could scarcely have been worse.

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Teams

Liverpool: (4-3-3) Mignolet; Clyne, Lovren, Klavan, Milner; Wijnaldum, Henderson (Origi 64), Can; Mane (Lucas 89), Firmino, Lallana. Substitutes not used: Karius (g), Sturridge, Moreno, Ejaria, Alexander-Arnold.

Manchester City: (4-2-3-1) Bravo, Zabaleta (Navas 86), Stones, Otamendi, Kolarov; Toure (Iheanacho 89), Fernandinho; Sterling, De Bruyne, Silva; Aguero. Substitutes not used: Caballero (g), Sagna, Fernando, Clichy, Garcia.