If Manchester City are to break Liverpool hearts again, then it may well be the man who was part of the Reds’ last near-miss to provide the hammer blow.

Raheem Sterling was a teenager in the Liverpool team that slipped up against Chelsea in 2014 and effectively handed the Premier League title to City.

Ahead of the 2019 re-run on that famous Anfield match, Sterling made sure Liverpool could not afford another mistake with two goals for City against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Jurgen Klopp’s team responded by beating Chelsea, but they cannot expect to be given any gifts by City or Sterling.

He now has 21 in all competitions for City and stepped up as Sergio Aguero suffered a rare off-day and was eventually replaced by Gabriel Jesus, who netted the visitors’ third goal.

The fact Sterling shook off a glaring early miss to go on and score twice perhaps best demonstrates his progression over the past couple of years. He also made a big contribution defensively, as he supported Kyle Walker to help minimise Wilfried Zaha’s impact.