Clyne: “We Could Have Had Seven”

Liverpool demolished league favourites Manchester City over the weekend, putting four past Joe Hart on the way to victory. They could have had more; probably should have had more. Were it not for Hart's heroics in goal for City, they almost certainly would have.

A few short weeks after demolishing Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge and setting an early high water mark in Jürgen Klopp's tenure as Liverpool manager, Saturday's victory at the Etihad was a clear step beyond even that. It was the kind of dominant victory over a top side few would have imagined possible even a month ago.

"We took the game to them," was right back Nathaniel Clyne's take on how Liverpool managed to put City to shame on what was a memorable Saturday afternoon for fans and the players alike. "We didn't give them any time on the ball, pressed them high up the pitch, and that's what got us our win. You could see it.

"We can't let teams like Manchester City have the ball, that's why we press so high up the pitch. We can't give them time on the ball and that's what we did. We profited from that and got our goals and we probably could have scored more—Joe Hart made a number of great saves and on another day we could have had seven."

In the past month, Liverpool have handled England's two biggest spenders at their own ground. After struggling for results against the top sides under former manager Brendan Rodgers, it is a stunning turnaround—one not even Rodgers' harshest critics saw coming. It's also clear that this is a side still finding its way under Klopp.

Klopp has, in just a little over a month, shown the difference the right manager can make for a floundering club. He has taken a side that looked had looked lifeless for more than a season and turned them instantly into a side that looks as though it can go toe to toe with anyone. Yet it's clear there's still room to grow; to improve.

"We take the confidence from [the win]," Clyne added. "If we keep putting in performances like that, we can keep pushing up the league. We take this three points and move onto the next game now. We've got a lot of players coming back from injury, the likes of Sturridge and a few more players coming back."

Any last lingering doubters left will have become believers over the weekend. Liverpool football is, once again, fun. The club will now look to carry that growing confidence into the Europa League on Thursday when they take on Bordeaux before getting back into league action against Swansea on the weekend.