Liverpool is humiliated by a Man City without Haaland.

Manchester City defeated Liverpool 4-1 on Saturday after coming from behind to maintain its lead in the Premier League title race despite being without the injured Erling Haaland.

The defending champions drew back to within five points of Arsenal at the top of the standings thanks to goals from Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, and Jack Grealish.

In four of the previous five Premier League seasons, City and Liverpool have finished as the top two. However, after a terrible season, the Reds are struggling just to qualify for the Champions League and were once again reminded of the gap they need to close in order to be competitive again next year.

Jurgen Klopp's team is now sixth, seven points behind the top four after a humiliating loss.

Haaland was sitting in the stands with his father, former City midfielder Alfie Haaland, due to a groin injury.

Despite being without their 42-goal scorer, Pep Guardiola's team got off to a strong start as Alisson Becker had to make saves from Gundogan and Rodri before Riyad Mahrez narrowly missed with a free-kick.

But when Liverpool took the lead after 17 minutes, City were caught off guard on the counterattack.

Diogo Jota got in behind the City defense and set up Mohamed Salah for his 23rd goal of the year as the home crowd yelled for offside.

According to a VAR review, Manuel Akanji had the Portuguese forward onside.

When Mahrez blasted another excellent opportunity just inches over, Guardiola was on his knees.

He didn't have to wait long, though, for his side to prove their worth even without Haaland.

Despite having spent the majority of the season serving as Haaland's backup, De Bruyne, Mahrez, and Grealish worked together to crack open the Liverpool defense, leaving Alvarez with the easy task of slotting in his 13th goal of the season.

A further brilliant team move allowed City to take the lead after just 53 seconds of the second half.

This time, Alvarez was the instigator because his cross-field pass allowed Mahrez to sprint into a large opening behind the Liverpool defense.

De Bruyne was able to score from a perfectly weighted cross from Algeria that cut off Alisson and found an open net.

The first two goals scored by City were the result of a team's collective brilliance, but Liverpool's defense for the third goal summed up a disappointing campaign for Klopp's team.

Alvarez was given a remarkable amount of time inside the box by Fabinho to choose a shot, and after Trent Alexander-Arnold blocked it, Gundogan was also given room to take a touch before shooting into the top corner.

In nine games this season, Liverpool has now given up three or more goals, and the punishment for the visitors didn't stop there.

Grealish scored the fourth goal to cap off arguably his best performance as a City player and emerge as the game's standout player.

Grealish and De Bruyne exchanged a one-two before the Premier League's most expensive player of all time side-footed into the far corner as City's movement off the ball once again proved too good for a sluggish Liverpool defense.

Arsenal continues to lead the title race as they prepare to play Leeds later on Saturday.

However, with Arsenal still scheduled to visit the Etihad later this month, City may be reaching their peak at the ideal time after scoring 17 goals in their last three games.