IF Manchester City want to inflict the first blow on Liverpool’s title challenge, this is the time to do it.

Despite the Reds unbeaten start in the league, the last three games have shown that Jurgen Klopp’s team is not operating at peak capacity. Three games without a win is hardly a crisis — but two defeats in those (at home to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup, and away to Napoli in the Champions League). And that loss in Italy was the first time since February 2006 that Liverpool have failed to get a single shot on target in a Champions League game.

Klopp’s men have enjoyed a singular dominance over Pep Guardiola’s City in recent games, winning the corresponding fixture last year 4-3, and not forgetting those titanic Champions League semi-finals. It has in fact been 15 years since City last won at Anfield — but the memory of the 5-0 thrashing at the Etihad at the start of last season still remains.

The problem for Liverpool, unusually, has been the stuttering of their usually fluid attack. Whereas last season, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firminho and Sadio Mane couldn’t fall over without putting the ball in the net, this season the end product just isn’t coming. Only 7 of Liverpool’s 15 goals have come from open play — compared to City’s 16 out of 21. No wonder, then that Guardiola’s side are also averaging almost 10 more shots per game.

This is the key difference between the two right now — fluency in attack. And it is likely to be the difference this weekend.

City captain Victor Kompany got it right when he said earlier this week that this clash will be decided by “small margins”. The two teams are very close but City’s consistency with those clinical short passing moves looks set to give them the edge against a Liverpool defence that has been looked unusually exposed in those past three defeats.

Granted, Chelsea were reliant on the brilliance of Eden Hazard — Liverpool had more shots in both the league draw and the Cup defeat and suffered for not converting them. Not scoring isn’t really a concern as long as you keep making opportunities — But what happens when you can’t create those either?

That is what happened in the Champions League against Napoli, and just as against Chelsea, it was too much space between defenders that saw Liverpool concede goals. And those spaces are what City’s attackers look for. That’s where the small margins will be found.

And yet, it should be noted that City have not been completely perfect either. They also suffered a home defeat — to Lyon in their Champions league opener — and had to scrap for victory against Hoffenheim midweek.

And Guardiola’s unbeaten Premier League record has come largely at the expense of five of the teams already occupying the bottom six on the table: Huddersfield, Newcastle, Fulham, Cardiff and Brighton. Perfect fodder for Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling to maintain the champions’ winning start.

But it is City’s first-choice midfielders of David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan (seven goals between them) that engineer those chances, a trio boasting far great technique, forward momentum and attacking threat than Liverpool’s usual selection of Jordan Henderson, Georgio Wijnaldum, James Milner and the injured Naby Keita (three goals).

And if momentum counts for anything, this weekend it is with City, with winning their last four games by a margin of 12 goals to one. See? Not perfect …

This weekend, City’s team bus will take a secret route to Anfield, so as not to get ambushed by fired-up Reds fans as it was last season. Guardiola knows what awaits in Liverpool now and he’s prepared for it. It’s just another small margin on City have closed down on what could be a route to a hugely significant victory.