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This is the best Liverpool team since the title-winning side I played in back in 1987/88.

Over the past 30 years we've had some great teams but none of them have played consistently at the level we're seeing from Jurgen Klopp 's side this season.

We famously went 29 games unbeaten from the start of the season en route to winning the title in 1988. I would absolutely love to see the current crop beat that record.

Can they do it? I don't see any reason why not. They are 20 games unbeaten already and confidence is sky high after that 5-1 thrashing of Arsenal .

The spine of the side looks so strong. We've got a world-class keeper in Alisson Becker, who created another goal with his pin-point kick out against Arsenal. He's like having an extra outfield player.

Virgil van Dijk is immense defensively, while Andy Robertson just gets better and better.

Fabinho is growing in stature after a slow start and the manager has great options in midfield. As for the front three, they are absolutely top drawer.

Real competition for places is keeping standards high and we've got Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to come back from injury.

It was a special night at Anfield on Saturday. Take nothing away from Liverpool because we were brilliant but I couldn't believe how Arsenal lined up.

I know Unai Emery likes to play and be positive but not even Pep Guardiola tried to take us on like that this season.

Arsenal were so open and left themselves exposed. It was a stunning response after going behind early on.

Roberto Firmino hasn't been himself so far this season. He's not been as influential and he's been giving far too many balls away.

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But that was Firmino back to his best on Saturday night. His second goal was sensational with the way he embarrassed two Arsenal defenders before producing a cool finish.

Something hasn't been right with Firmino but he should take a huge amount of belief from the first hat-trick of his Liverpool career.

If I could have picked anyone to score a hat-trick in that game it would have been Firmino. We've had big contributions from Mo Salah and Sadio Mane recently and now we've had a match-winning performance from Firmino. That's massive for him.

What a year 2018 has been. There have been so many highlights. The way in which we demolished Man City 5-1 in the quarter-final of the Champions League was ridiculous. The first leg of the semi-final against Roma has to be right up there too.

The final in Kiev has to be the low of the year but instead of moping around after that setback the players really took the bull by the horns in August.

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We've made some great signings and Klopp has to take a lot of credit for the work he's done on the training ground. Defensively, we've looked incredibly solid.

Going into 2019 seven points ahead of City is a great position to be in. Klopp and the players are saying all the right things about keeping their focus and not getting carried away.

Strange things happen in football and it can bite you on the backside. City have had their blip and they're capable of rattling off 10 straight wins in the second half of the season. There's still a long way to go.

Now it's all about Thursday's game with City at the Etihad. Make no mistake, the pressure is on Guardiola's side.

Deep down, they will know they can't afford to lose. If we go 10 points clear that would be a big advantage.

If we take anything from the game it would be another step towards the prize we all want.

(Image: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Our recent record against City is excellent. We beat them three times last season and the only blip came in the game when Mane got sent off.

It will be interesting to see how Guardiola approaches it having shut up shop and played to contain us in the 0-0 draw at Anfield.

City know what Liverpool's front three are capable of doing to them and psychologically that has to play a part.

If James Milner is fit I'd expect Klopp to go back to 4-3-3 with the experience of Milner alongside Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum in midfield.

It's got the makings of a cracking contest between the best two teams in the country.