Liverpool beat rivals Manchester City 2-0 on Sunday as goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah helped them take a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League and extend their winless run to seven games.

City lost four games in a row in the Premier League for the first time since 2008 and pushed Pep Guardiola's struggling side into an unfamiliar fifth place, 11 points behind their biggest rivals in recent years.

Buoyed by their midweek Champions League win over Real Madrid, Liverpool started well and could have finished the game off before the break with plenty of chances, including two thunderous headers from Virgil van Dijk, one of which hit the woodwork.

Liverpool got their first goal in the 12th minute when Trent Alexander-Arnold sent a long pass to Salah on the right wing. His low shot eluded City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega and Gakpo pushed the ball into the net at the back post.

The Anfield crowd went wild when Salah scored Liverpool's second goal from the penalty spot in the 78th minute after striker Luis Diaz was brought down by Ortega in the box.

Head coach Arne Slot, who claimed his 18th win in 20 games, has made a dream start for Liverpool, adding steely defence and calm control to the ferocious attacking style of predecessor Jurgen Klopp.

Slot's side have made a perfect start in the Champions League and are currently nine points clear of Arsenal and Chelsea in the Premier League with 34 points from 13 games. Next up is Newcastle United, currently in 11th place.

Clearly, the PL Champion is in trouble: this is the first time in Guardiola's illustrious managerial career that they have suffered four consecutive defeats. Their next opponent is Nottingham Forest, who have made a very good start to the season. Another loss would likely see them temporarily drop out of the European competition.