Calvary in red! Sensational Doku and Haaland annihilate clueless Liverpool

This is no longer a crisis, but a catastrophe for Liverpool!

Arne Slot's men were swept by Manchester City 3-0 on Sunday night at the Etihad Stadium for another painful slap in the face of the defending champion, who are just a shadow of their former selves.

Determined, sharp, and focused, the Cityzens weren't bothered by lukewarm Reds, who were punching way below the expectations once again. Mohamed Salah is having one of the worst campaigns in the Liverpool shirt, and the super-expensive signing, Florian Wirtz, seems to be on some autopilot that is taking him straight to the abyss. Together with the rest of his teammates.

It started very one-sidedly at Etihad, with City putting some severe pressure on the Reds' defence, especially on the flanks, where Jeremy Doku made a mess. Every time the hosts had the ball, they were looking for the Belgian winger, as he made quite an impressive start to the game.

One of his runs with the ball was stopped by Liverpool's keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, which resulted in a penalty that Erling Haaland failed to convert for a lead. The Georgian keeper reacted superbly, saving Haaland's low effort.

Alas, the Norwegian beast made up swiftly for his missed penalty. Matheus Nunes crossed it from the right, and the ball's strange trajectory took it from the top of Ibrahima Konate's head to Haaland for an unintentional header straight into the back of the net.

Slot's men were finally awakened at that moment, and responded promptly through Virgil van Dijk on the other end, as his header went past Donnarumma and into the goal. Still, it was voided due to Andy Robertson's offside - the Reds' player was indeed staying in front of the goal. Still, we're not convinced that Robertson affected the game in any way, let alone making it more difficult for Donnarumma to stop VVD's header.

A few minutes later, Van Dijk did make the last contact with the ball before it went in - but in his own net. Unmarked Nico Gonzales fired from mid-range, and his effort deflected off VVD and past Mamardashvili for 2-0.

Liverpool gave their best to fight back after the half-time interval, but after Cody Gakpo's miss from a close range, the punishment was brutal in the pouring Manchester rain - Doku did it all by himself, firing it sensationally into the far corner for 3-0.

Bizarrely, the game was over with more than 30 minutes still left on the clock, despite Szoboszlai's long-range missile and Salah's effort following an unsuccessful offside trap.

While Pep was running passionately by the sideline like a genuine full-back, trying to motivate his players, his counterpart, Slot, was sitting faintheartedly in the dugout, observing another disappointing performance that puts their side much closer to mid-table than to the top.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 11

Saturday

Tottenham - Manchester United 0-1 (0-1)

/Mbeumo 32/

Everton - Fulham 2-0 (1-0)

/Gueye 45+4, Keane 81/

West Ham - Burnley 3-2 (1-1)

/Wilson 44, Soucek 77, Walker-Peters 87 - Flemming 35, Cullen 90+7/

Sunderland - Arsenal 2-2 (1-0)

/Ballard 36, Brobbey 90+4 - Saka 54, Trossard 74/

Chelsea - Wolverhampton 3-0 (0-0)

/Gusto 51, Pedro 65, Neto 73/

Sunday

Aston Villa - Bournemouth 4-0 (2-0)

/Buendia 28, Onana 40, Barkley 77, Maalen 82/

Brentford - Newcastle 3-1 (0-1)

/Schade 56, Thiago 78 pen, 90+1 - Barnes 27/

Crystal Palace - Brighton 0-0

Nott. Forest - Leeds 2-1 (1-1)

/Sangare 15, Gibbs-White 68 - Nmecha 13/

Manchester City - Liverpool 3-0 (2-0)

/Haaland 29, Gonzales 45+3, Doku 63/