Premier League: How Liverpool's superior transfer acumen allowed them to supplant Manchester City

Pep Guardiola may be the best coach in the world, and he may have even assembled the greatest club side of all time, but Liverpool’s brilliant transfer strategy has exploited his biggest weakness.

Across his career, Guardiola has never really impressed in the transfer market. He has bought some excellent players of course, but given the amount of money he has spent over his career it would be bizarre if he hadn’t managed some masterstrokes along the way.

At Barcelona he spent perhaps as badly in his career as he ever has. He might have been hamstrung by the poor setup at the Catalonian club, because they have hardly flourished in the market since his departure.

However, his signature signing, that of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, proved to be an enormous waste of money, unsettled the side, and cost them Samuel Eto’o going the other way. Dani Alves was an excellent purchase, as were Javier Mascherano and David Villa, and Seydou Keita provided excellent value for money. Otherwise, the rest of his purchases were a waste.

His outlay at Bayern Munich was far from convincing too. His best purchases were all central midfielders - Thiago Alcantara, Xabi Alonso and Arturo Vidal. But Mario Gotze failed to really impress, Medhi Benatia, Douglas Costa and Juan Bernat were expensive mistakes.

It is at Manchester City though where his profligacy has ramped up. Afforded near limitless funds, and given the extensive influence that comes with City’s owners knowing they have him almost entirely because of their financial capabilities, he has raced through one player after the next as he tries to solve the puzzles in his head.

He has signed 21 senior players, though you could argue for more, and only Bernardo Silva, Ederson, Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte are indisputable successes. The glut full-backs he has signed have highlighted both the difficulties of finding a world class one available for transfer, and also the way he resorts to the chequebook far more than such a brilliant coach perhaps should.

Contrast that with Jurgen Klopp under Liverpool. With the exception of Ragnar Klavan and Loris Karius, every player has been a success. Only Takumi Minamino can be discounted from the discussion as he is slowly introduced, and maybe Naby Keita will be moved on if he fails to kick on. But the successes are overwhelming: Virgil van Dijk, Alisson, Fabinho, Diogo Jota, Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Georginio Wijnaldum and Andy Robertson have all become vital parts of the squad. It’s an astonishing hit rate and one that probably outperforms any other club of a similar stature in Europe.

Manchester City may edge the game at the weekend, but when England’s two best teams face off, one of them has grown with an intelligence and ruthlessness that Guardiola has never come close to matching. While Liverpool are far from paupers, they have levelled the playing field by identifying the best talent within their grasp and executing with barely an error.

Virgil van Dijk, Alisson, Naby Keita, Fabinho, Diogo Jota, Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Georginio Wijnaldum, Andy Robertson, Takumi Minamino, Loris Karius, Ragnar Klavan, Joel Matip.

Ruben Dias, Riyad Mahrez, Aymeric Laporte, Joao Cancelo, Rodri, Benjamin Mendy, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Leroy Sane, Bernardo Silva, Nathan Ake, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ederson, Gabriel Jesus, Danilo, Ilkay Gundogan, Ferran Torres, Nolito, Claudio Bravo, Douglas Luiz, Angelino.

Keirrison, Henrique, Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Alexander Hleb, Martin Caceres, Ibrahimo Affelay, Maxwell, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Jose Manuel Pinto, Cesc Fabregas, Alexis Sanchez, Seydou Keita, Javier Mascherano, David Villa, Dani Alves, Gerard Pique.

Mario Gotze, Juan Bernat, Pepe Reina, Mehdi Benatia, Xabi Alonso, Sinan Kurt, Douglas Costa, Sven Ulreich, Joshua Kimmich, Arturo Vidal, Kingsley Coman, Serdar Tasci.