On a squally, blustery day in the north, the kind of day when the branches of the trees on the Ashton New Road swayed and groaned and the fans walked to the ground with their heads bent low into the wind, Pep Guardiola paced and fretted his way along the touchline at the Etihad and watched Liverpool claim the crown that Manchester City have worn for the last four seasons.
Without anyone much noticing, Liverpool have weathered a storm these past few weeks, dropping points in dribs and drabs, losing at Plymouth in the FA Cup, losing a lead in the last minute in the cauldron of Goodison Park’s last Merseyside derby and drawing with Aston Villa.