Haaland shows who is boss
Four games into his fourth season in English football, there is already no player to have scored more Premier League derby goals than Haaland. It is eight for him against Manchester United in the competition and five goals in four games in total this season.
On the day that some eyes were cast down the road towards Turf Moor in the hope of a glimpse of Alexander Isak, increasingly heralded as perhaps the best striker in the Premier League, this was a reminder that he is not even the best Scandinavian striker.
While Isak was made to wait for his Liverpool bow, Haaland took centre-stage against United with a marauding performance that took the game away from their great rivals in the second half. Haaland scored two with only the post preventing a hat-trick.
His two finishes were different but equally emphatic. Fresh from putting five past Moldova for Norway, he looks sharp again, showcasing the sort of firepower that took City to two titles. With Phil Foden also impressing, it was a reminder of their prowess.
Adam Bate
Four games in, and this Liverpool team can be interpreted in different ways. Some say their late heroics are the sign of champions. Others would claim they are papering over the cracks of some unconvincing displays.
It is the same with their transfer window just gone. Adding the likes of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz looks attractive on paper. But has revolutionising the full-back, left wing and striker positions meant a huge rebuild as well?
So far this season, Liverpool have either looked unconvincing in attack or have been shipping goals at the back, but they've still won every Premier League game after losing the Community Shield to Crystal Palace on penalties.
It's a frightening prospect - Liverpool are still winning despite Arne Slot saying they will get better from here. But there are no guarantees of that.
First of all, Liverpool's fixture list is getting more condensed and no less difficult. They've already picked up wins over Newcastle and Arsenal but they face Atletico Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City before the November international break.
That run also includes trips to Brentford and Crystal Palace, plus there is next weekend's Merseyside derby against Everton.
And while Alexander Isak will ultimately bring a huge amount of quality to this team, he is starting the season four weeks behind schedule fitness-wise. It may take some time to see the full value of the £125m striker.
The next eight weeks will ultimately be crucial for Liverpool's season.
Sam Blitz
The last time Scott Parker faced Liverpool, his team shipped nine goals and he was sacked three days later.
It's no secret that he has to convince many doubters he's worthy of a seat at the top table of management following his previous Premier League stints.
However, although the sharp looks remain the same, there is something different emerging: substance.
This isn't the same Parker that arrived in the Premier League lacking in realism. The Burnley Parker has learnt things that the Fulham Parker and the Bournemouth Parker missed. He's taken the bruises of those experiences and turned them into something closer to a blueprint. There's a tactical flexibility to Parker now.
The pragmatism and defensive unity his Burnley team showed for 94 minutes against Liverpool is going to be key to their survival. Parker knows this now and you'd be hard pushed to see a better organised defensive showing from a team all season. They were exemplary.
This could just be the Premier League job where Parker proves everyone wrong.
Lewis Jones
Ruben Amorim remains defiant about his unwillingness to deviate tactically but that now feels like a tactical decision in itself. He knows that he has gone too far down this path to have any credibility if he abandons his idea. He is on this journey to its end.
"There are a lot of things that you have no idea what happened during these months, but I accept that," Amorim said in his press conference. "I am not going to change. When I want to change my philosophy, I will change. If not, you have to change the man."
The problem is that football management is a confidence trick. The players need to believe and there is little reason for them to do so. Eight wins from 31 games means no team in the Premier League who has been there throughout his reign have fewer points.
Against Manchester City, they were in it until the 53rd minute but once it unravelled the frailty was evident, the midfield overrun. Bruno Fernandes was again forced into a deeper role from which he struggled to influence things. Square pegs, round holes.
Benjamin Sesko cut an isolated figure on his full Premier League debut and Patrick Dorgu, the specialist wing-back recruited for that particular role on the left, was not efficient enough with his crossing to threaten the City back line as he might have done.
Amorim saw positives. "I see that we are doing better, but then the results do not show that." He again held up the Arsenal defeat as proof that his way can work. But when even losses are viewed as progress, one is entitled to ask where he is leading them.
United have never had a worse start to a Premier League campaign than this. And yet, that hardly feels shocking anymore. Amorim insists he is suffering more than anyone. The problem for United is that the evidence of that suffering ending remains paper thin.
Adam Bate
