Jamie Carragher was right about Man City's Premier League title chances — though not necessarily for the right reasons — and one Liverpool result looks even better now

Even if Manchester City had only moved on from Pep Guardiola this summer, it would have been reasonable to believe that there would be a transition process.

Add in the Premier League's guilty verdict and the looming penalties that could be coming, pending appeal, and Enzo Maresca was handed an even more difficult job. This week has been a bruising one for the Etihad side.

Last weekend, Manchester City lost 2-1 at Aston Villa. It scraped through on penalties against Brighton in the Carabao Cup midweek, and then lost to the same side in the Premier League a few days later.

Erling Haaland barely had a kick and Rayan Cherki made a limited impact off the bench, with Brighton keeping Manchester City out and coming away with a 1-0 victory thanks to Yasin Ayari's early goal.

Brighton, of course, deserve credit, but there was always a feeling that Manchester City's seven straight wins to start the season was not quite the full story.

"There are several reasons why there are those who believe Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool might push Arsenal closer than anticipated," Jamie Carragher wrote for the Daily Telegraph this week.

"First and foremost, the guilty verdict in the Manchester City case has altered the complexion of the season, and emboldened those who want to seize the initiative.

"When Iraola replaced Arne Slot last summer, it was difficult to envisage how Liverpool could get past both Arsenal and City within a year.

"Now we expect City to be punished soon. Given the nature and severity of their misdemeanors, it is inconceivable they will be a title contender if that happens. The door is open for those in the chasing pack with the capacity and will to walk through it."

Even without the cheating, though, Manchester City does not appear to be perfect. There are flaws that Aston Villa and now Brighton have taken advantage of.

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Early on in the season, it can be difficult to gauge just how important a win was, or how difficult an opponent you were facing, but in the context of Brighton now being just two points off the top of the table, it puts Liverpool's victory a week ago into even more perspective.

Fabian Hurzeler was unimpressed with how Liverpool saw the game out having gone 2-0 up in the second half, but the Reds produced a strong showing.

Ayari should have scored on that day when the deadlock had yet to be broken and things could have gone a different way. Liverpool, however, found a way to beat a side that is fast becoming a part of the title conversation.