Liverpool 1 Man City 3 (1981)
City’s title-challenging side of the late Seventies had largely been broken up by this point but they remained a decent proposition, finishing mid-table after reaching the FA Cup final the previous May.
This though was Anfield, home of the champions-elect, a side that had won the league in four of the last six seasons. Liverpool didn’t lose at Anfield.
They did on this occasion, with Bruce Grobbelaar having a stinker of an introduction to English football after signing that summer and again taking centre stage for all the wrong reasons.
In front of a bumper Boxing Day crowd, the zany Zimbabwean spilled crosses and fumbled weak shots as the Blues defied the football odds.
Man City 0 Liverpool 4 (FA Cup, 1988)
Residing in the second tier, City had done well to reach the last eight in the FA Cup, needing three stabs to get past Huddersfield and a replay to bypass Blackpool.
Their reward was a televised clash against the most celebrated side in the land.
In truth, it was a one-sided affair that bordered on being an exhibition and what an exhibition it was, with John Barnes running the show and Peter Beardsley and Ray Houghton resplendent as his supporting cast.
An argument can be made that this was Liverpool’s finest ever eleven, from a very high bar of other candidates. Nobody present at Maine Road that afternoon would disagree too strongly with that.
Liverpool 3 Man City 2 (2014)
A fortnight after this highly-charged encounter came the famous Gerrard slip, followed immediately by a three-goal advantage disappearing at Crystal Palace. City would go on to win the title on the final day.
Nobody could have possibly foreseen any of this though, as Brendan Rodgers’ side flew into the visitors from the off, propelled by a desperation to win their first ever Premier League crown.
Two-up at the break nerves kicked in thereafter, when David Silva’s toes began to twinkle and the Blues drew level.
A frenetic and emotional game appeared to be heading for a draw until Vincent Kompany made a fateful error late-on and Phillippe Coutinho fired in a screamer.
Cue wild celebrations with the Reds extending their lead at the top, and amidst all of the chaos and the singing, Steven Gerrard got his team into a huddle. What happened next has gone down in Premier League folklore.
Man City 5 Liverpool 0 (2017)
Pep Guardiola’s innovative demands were all starting to click early into his second season in English football, leaving us in no doubt that a spectacular creation was emerging.
In a six week period, 18 goals were put past Watford, Crystal Palace and Stoke combined, Liverpool were hit for six, and a masterclass was enacted at Stamford Bridge.
It was this one-sided demolition however that really stood out, against a Liverpool side themselves on the cusp of greatness.
The game is chiefly recalled for Sadio Mane’s sending off, inadvertently kung-fu kicking Ederson square in the face. That shouldn’t be so.
This was the dawn of something very special indeed.
Liverpool 3 Man City 0 (Champions League, 2018)
Seven months later it was Liverpool’s turn to demonstrate the height of their footballing powers as Klopp-ball took full and devastating effect.
Having already blitzed City into submission at Anfield in the league, this momentous Champions League quarter-final clash of the titans was essentially done and dusted before the break, Liverpool unleashing all manner of hell on Guardiola’s shell-shocked side.
The online betting leaned towards a home win beforehand but few could have anticipated the brutal nature of it. Picture AC/DC caterwauling and thrash-guitaring into Mozart’s face and you get the gist.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
