Gary Neville comments sum up just how bad Man City crisis is as Liverpool get huge chance

Gary Neville said that he hasn't seen the Manchester City team play as badly as it did against Tottenham since Pep Guardiola's first season in charge at the Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola's men succumbed to a shocking 4-0 loss to Spurs, as James Maddison's first-half brace was supplemented by second-half strikes from Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson.

Besides a 10-minute period at the beginning of the match, City were firmly second best throughout, and Neville was stunned by what he saw.

"We've seen City lose the odd game here, but we've very rarely seen them outplayed in every department, but that's what we're watching," he said while on Sky Sports co-commentary duty. "They look well short. As short as I've seen them since Pep's first season (2016-17). I've not seen them as bad as this, how they've been in the last few weeks."

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City went into the game off the back of four successive defeats, but many expected news of Guardiola's contract extension to give the players a shot in the arm against Spurs. However, City's flat performance extinguished any feel-good factor that preceded the match.

"He (Guardiola) will have wanted that international break to come, thinking it would be a reset moment," Neville said. "But now here, it further entrenches the opinion this is a City side currently in decline. It seems madness when you think about what they've achieved. They're easy to play against and teams are encouraged when playing them. The vulnerabilities are clear for everyone to see."

Much has been made of the absence of City midfielder Rodri in recent weeks, with the Spaniard currently out with a serious knee injury that could sideline him until next season, but Neville said City's problems run deeper than the absence of the Ballon d'Or winner. He said: "This is more than just Rodri, far more."

Neville also sounded surprised when Timo Werner glided past Kyle Walker to set up Johnson's stoppage-time goal. "Goodness gracious me," he said. "You don't see that very often, but we've seen it a few times in the last couple of weeks. Vinicius Junior, Mbappe, he's handled them all, Walker, but he's struggling at this moment in time."

Liverpool can take advantage of City's crisis on Sunday when Arne Slot's men travel to Southampton; a win will see them move eight points clear at the top of the league table.