MARTIN KEOWN TALKS TACTICS: Man City MUST stop Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk from pinging long balls to Mohamed Salah

The start to Arne Slot's tenure at Liverpool could hardly have gone better, as he has taken over from someone as beloved as Jurgen Klopp to put his own stamp on the team.

Manchester City will know from their analysis that they cannot afford Virgil van Dijk a single moment on the ball when the clubs meet in Sunday's blockbuster.

The Liverpool defender favors a diagonal ball to Mohamed Salah, missing the entire midfield by sending his 40-yard passes straight to the winger.

We saw that on Wednesday against Real Madrid, which was made very normal by the opponents.

Ryan Gravenberch was so impressive when he was in front of the defense. He is the player City currently lack.

Gravenberch will be the deep midfielder with Curtis Jones, who is playing the best football of his career, and Alexis Mac Allister, a wonderful talent, who plays a little higher.

Conor Bradley was great against Kylian Mbappe, putting in a mature performance and still making his own runs into central positions.

That was the key to his side's opener when Jones played a pass to Mac Allister, who exchanged a one-two with the advanced Bradley before scoring. It was such a high level of technical skill at speed.

There can be no sloppiness at City. They need to dig deep and find their best performance of the season to end their winless run with the biggest win they could wish for.

You have to rewind to May 1963, before I was even born, to find the last time Manchester City conceded at least two goals in six consecutive games.

Indeed, they looked Rodri-less as they equaled that unwanted record, and I can guarantee that Pep Guardiola will be embarrassed by the idea that their aura has disappeared because of a single absence, even if that player is the Ballon d'Or winner is.

All top teams – and I was certainly in one of them – have to prove that they can deal with missing players. At Arsenal we went to Old Trafford without Thierry Henry and Tony Adams in May 2002, but won 1-0 to secure the Premier League title.

As they visit the noisy home of their own rivals on Sunday, it is now time for City to stand up as a collective. It won't be easy because this is a team that is clearly in shock.

Even Ederson has made mistakes, while he usually seems so insensitive to mistakes, when his team let a 3-0 lead slip to Feyenoord on Tuesday.

Managers often learn more about their players when they lose than when they win. Guardiola will know who to rely on for this next challenge – and he needs to bring back his big players.

Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias and Kyle Walker – these three need to be in this team to strengthen the spine.

It has to be City's Total Football. They need to take the game to Liverpool and apply pressure high up the pitch. With the quality of Bernardo Silva, I would even be tempted to use him at the base of midfield instead of Matheus Nunes.

Fill the team with ball players, who can maintain possession and try to damage Liverpool. City must see this trip as an opportunity in disguise: a chance to take back three points from the eight they trail their rivals.