Man City’s 4-0 win at Wolves showed they are up for a Premier League title chase – but the way they did it had Jamie Carragher wondering whether Pep Guardiola’s fresh approach has been influenced by Liverpool.

After City dropped off their usual standards last term, Guardiola brought in Pep Lijnders as assistant coach, Jurgen Klopp’s former deputy at Liverpool.

With City playing an offside trap at Molineux and scoring on the counter-attack, Carragher believes Lijnders “is having a big influence on Guardiola”, noting the similarities with the style Lijnders and Klopp favoured during their time together at Anfield.

A high line

Defensively, Man City repeatedly pushed up to try to catch Wolves offside – and did just that when Marshall Munetsi headed in during the first half. That plan was even executed close to the halfway line, with City’s backline stepping right up high as Wolves tried to play the ball forwards.

“I couldn’t believe what I saw, the players were all jumping high up to try and catch the Wolves players offside,” said Carragher told Monday Night Football.

“This is very Liverpool-like. It made me think how much influence is maybe the new coach having on this team.”

Whether it was Liverpool-inspired or not, fellow Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville applauded the performance of Man City’s defence to keep such a disciplined line.

“It’s really good play,” he added. “To get a back-four unit in sync like that, it takes some doing. It’s really good play from [centre-back] John Stones.”

Fast counter-attacks

Carragher also noted similarities between City’s performance with Liverpool’s threat on the break under Klopp.

Tijjani Reijnders’ goal came from a swift move up the field, with Guardiola making a point of celebrating with Lijnders in the aftermath.

“The amount of counter-attacking goals that Liverpool team would score with [Sadio] Mane and [Mohamed] Salah, breaking forward,” said Carragher. “When I looked at the goal from Reijnders… not maybe a Pep Guardiola goal.

“Of course, Pep Guardiola’s teams have scored plenty of counter-attacking goals in the past. But what really stood out for this one was the type of goal it was. They win it and then they’re off.

“Lijnders – Guardiola gives him the thanks, the hug. Now we don’t know exactly what that’s for, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence with some of the things that I saw in the game that he, as a coach, is having a big influence on Pep Guardiola.”

Afterwards, Guardiola himself said City were trying to be better with attacking breaks than they were last season.

“It’s a weapon that we want to use this season – when we’re getting the ball, attack quicker than maybe before.”

Pep adapting again

Whether it is a Liverpool inspiration from Lijnders or not, it seems clear Guardiola has once again reimagined his Man City side.

Carragher says the serial winner recognised the shift in style in the Premier League away from controlled, patient build-up into a more dynamic approach – and has responded.

“What Pep said last season, when he was talking about where the game was going, he was actually saying, ‘it’s not really my football’, the football that was seen of teams in the Premier League. Transition, end-to-end football.

“I think he mentioned Brentford, he was talking about Bournemouth, he wasn’t just talking about the real top teams. How many teams in the Premier League were playing like that.”

City have shown they can have success playing that way too. After learning from their rivals, they look like they will be serious contenders for the Premier League crown once again. That’s a view shared by Neville.

“Watching that game on Saturday, it was a little bit, ‘Oh, did we just forget about the obvious?’ Pep Guardiola, if he loses a title, he’ll win it back,” said Neville.

“He wins titles nearly every single year he’s coached in his career, and when you saw Reijnders on Saturday, you think of Rodri to come back in, you think of Stones and [Ruben] Dias, [Erling] Haaland up front… that’s a spine and a half, that’s a title-winning spine, it’s a treble-winning spine with a manager who’s prolific.

“City, just off what we’ve seen on Saturday, if they keep their players fit, they could be really in business.”