Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said his side's 2-0 win over Manchester City was "almost perfect" — but even the Dutchman admitted that he didn't think he would be in this position in the Premier League at this stage of his Anfield tenure.

Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah scored the goals as Liverpool moved nine points clear at the top of the table — 11 ahead of Manchester City, with Pep Guardiola's side in fifth — and the Reds could easily have won by even more. Salah missed a one-on-one and Virgil van Dijk could have had a hat-trick from set-pieces.

"Yeah [it was almost a perfect match] and if you look at work rate, I think it was perfect," Slot told Sky Sports post-match. "The amount of chances we miss made it tight at the end. But maybe that's nice for matches like this. It should be like this but it would have been nicer to score the second goal earlier.

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"We always press high but they're so good at build-up, so you have to work very hard. Our players had energy. Apart from our players, the crowd was fantastic today as well. They always make it difficult for you in the way they position. It's not only formation. Nine out of 10 times it's the quality of the players. We have some quality players on the pitch too.

"We're a compatible team and it's difficult to beat us. But also we have to put the effort in. But we have injuries. We had to take Trent off. It would have been a risk. These are the challenges we face at the moment but every team has to face these challenges over a season. Next week is another big week against Newcastle and Everton."

Liverpool has now played more than a third of its league fixtures including facing Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City. Crucial to it sustaining that form will be managing games and Slot was keen to see his players keep their cool.

"Ideally I would have loved to have seen the second half being the same as the first half," Slot continued. "But the quality of the other team... If you want to win against City you have to be perfect in every part of the game.

"High press, low press, build-up. They bring so many problems to you. We came close to perfection, we weren't perfect but we came close to perfection. That's the only way to beat a quality team like City.

"I don't think anyone, including me, would have predicted this [start]. I knew Jurgen [Klopp] left the team in a very good place. But still, to win so much with all the difficult teams we have played already is not something you could predict at the start of the season.

"But, like I say, I saw Arsenal yesterday and Chelsea today and I saw City, they will come back because these teams have so much quality. They could go on the same run as us. So we have to stay sharp and focused."

Liverpool.com says: There is no doubt that the Reds deserved their win and the gulf between the two teams at the moment was clear, particularly in the first half. Liverpool has a massive opportunity now this season and Slot will need to take advantage.