Man City v Liverpool ratings: Grealish 9, De Bruyne 9; Salah 7, Jota 6

Pep Guardiola's team prevail 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday

MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson - 6. Didn't have much to do in goal and couldn't have done anything to stop Salah’s opener. AFP

Manuel Akanji - 5. Played Jota onside, and was easily shielded from the ball by Jota in the build-up to Salah’s goal. PA

Nathan Ake - 6. Looked uncharacteristically shaky and unassured against Salah in the first half. Improved alongside his teammates in the second half as City upped the tempo. AFP

Ruben Dias - 8. Made a last-ditch block to deflect Gakpo’s shot wide in the 55th minute. Hardly put a foot wrong all through the game. Getty

John Stones - 7. A quiet day in a hybrid role for Stones. He kept to his task of helping City play out from the back well and kept things ticking. Getty

Rodri - 7. Had City's first shot on target with a shot that went straight into the hands of Alisson. Lucky to have escaped a red card after he made two bookable fouls with a space of two minutes in the first half. Reuters

Kevin De Bruyne - 9. Caused early problems for Liverpool with his tantalizing crosses. Gave City the lead in the 46th minute with a simple tap-in into an empty goal. Assisted Grealish's goal with a simple return pass in the 74th minute. Getty

Ilkay Gundogan - 8. Showed good awareness by trying to find Alvarez when De Bruyne’s cross found him in the box early in the game. Finally got a well-deserved goal when he scored City's third goal from close range in the 53rd minute. AFP

Riyad Mahrez - 7. Almost opened the scoring with a freekick that went wide. Shot high and wide when he was played through by Gundogan in the 21st minute. Played De Bruyne in with a precise cross to give City the lead after restart. AFP

Jack Grealish - 9. Proved crucial at the other end as he made a last-man block to stop Salah from playing Elliot through on goal. Turned creator a minute later as he set up Alvarez to bring City level. Crowned his impressive performance with a goal to put the game to bed in the 74th minute. AFP

Julian Alvarez - 7. Failed to get a proper connection with the ball when De Bruyne’s bouncing pass found him in the box in the 19th minute. Drew City level in the 29th minute with a simple striker finish. Reuters

SUBS: Bernardo Silva (Rodri, 83) - N/A. Almost got on the end of De Bruyne’s cross to score with his first touch after coming on. Cole Palmer (Grealish, 88) - N/A. EPA

LIVERPOOL RATINGS: Alisson - 6. Made an excellent save to deny Grealish in the 59th minute. Made another good save with his chest to deny Grealish in the 81st minute. But four goals against his name. PA

Trent Alexander-Arnold - 5. Gave Grealish too much space which enabled him to find Alvarez for City’s equaliser. Played a line-breaking pass behind City’s defence to find Jota en route Liverpool’s opener. Was too lethargic with his tackling in the build-up to City's fourth goal. AFP

Andy Robertson - 5. Created Liverpool’s first chance with a cross that Salah failed to take advantage of. Struggled to deal with the double threat of Mahrez and De Bruyne on the right flank. Could have responded a lot earlier in the build-up to City’s second goal but he was indecisive. EPA

Ibrahima Konate - 5. He should have been much closer to Alvarez for City's first goal. Stopped a counterattack by shielding Alvarez off the ball in the 65th minute. Should have done better to stop De Bruyne’s pass to Grealish for City’s fourth goal. Reuters

Virgil Van Dijk - 5. Got caught high up the pitch for City’s second goal. Failed to organise the Reds backline as he has been known to do. Reuters

Jordan Henderson - 5. Liverpool’s captain worked hard in midfield but the quality of City's much younger midfield proved a little too much. AFP

Fabinho - 6. Got dragged into a number of needless scuffles early in the game. Great work to jump in and deny Gundogan with a block in the 44th minute. PA

Harvey Elliot - 5. Looked too predictable with his shooting which led to them being blocked. Struggled to generally get involved in the game. AFP

Diogo Jota - 6. Clever play to keep himself onside and then hold off Akanji for Salah to tap home Liverpool’s opener. His confidence on the ball was crucial in helping the Reds hold on to the ball in the first half. EPA

Mohamed Salah - 7. Opened the scoring for Liverpool with a side-footed shot into the top corner. Should have done better when he tried to play Elliot through on goal in the first half. Getty

Cody Gakpo - 6. Struggled to get involved in the first half due to Man City’s relentless running off the ball. Saw a lot of the ball in the second half and had a number of chances that he failed to convert. AP

SUBS: Kostas Tsimikas (Robertson, 69) - 6. Helped limit Manchester City’s attacks down the left-hand side after coming on. EPA

Roberto Firmino (Jota, 69) - 5. Failed to have a sniff after coming on as Manchester City were already in full flow. Getty

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Elliot, 69) - 5. His only real contribution after coming on was a cross which was deflected into the hands of Ederson by Bernardo Silva. Reuters

Darwin Nunez (Salah, 69) - 5. Tried to cause problems with his running but he was well marshalled by City backline. James Milner (Gakpo, 82) - N/A. PA

Manchester City were without an injured Erling Haaland but the goals continued to flow as they crushed Liverpool 4-1 at the Etihad on Saturday to keep their chase of Premier League leaders Arsenal alive.

Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish were all on target for Pep Guardiola's side upon return from the international break.

Victory put City five points behind the Gunners, even if temporarily.

"Brilliant - we knew it would be a tough game playing Liverpool and the first after the international break is always difficult," Grealish told BT Sport.

"We wanted to start this last period right, Liverpool are so dangerous with players they have up front and then you, not fear the worst, but think it's going to be a tough game to get back into it. We were excellent especially in the second half."

The chastening defeat leaves Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool still seven points adrift of the top four.

"We were not there anymore. We were completely open, too passive, too deep," said Klopp.

"Against City 14 or 15 players need to be on top of their game. After being 3-1 down it's difficult but, apart from that, City could do what they wanted because the spaces were too big. We were lucky they only scored one more."

Player ratings from the match can be seen in the picture gallery above. To view the next image, click on the arrows or swipe if on a mobile device.