Pep Guardiola lauded Kevin de Bruyne's influence on Manchester City as his return to the starting line-up sparked the end of their recent winless run.
City had lost their last four Premier League games and were without a win in seven in all competitions. But they cruised to a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest thanks to goals from Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku.
Guardiola's side are now unbeaten in each of their last 31 Premier League matches with the Belgian in the XI (W26 D5), while he has been directly involved in 25 goals across those matches (nine goals, 16 assists).
Having picked up two goal involvements against Forest, the City manager was pleased with the influence De Bruyne had during his 73 minutes on the pitch.
"He was excellent, especially in the first half, even in the second half," Guardiola told Amazon Prime.
"Really good, the presence and when he's fit, he's a player that is so important for us. For many years since he arrived from Germany, he has been an incredible influence on our game.
"[The difference is] we won, [before] we make a performance but could not win but [on Wednesday] we won. Now everything is nice."
The Belgian, making his 265th league appearance for City, recorded more than four shots (five) and more than four chances (four) for the third time in a Premier League game this season, despite only making five starts – only Bukayo Saka has done so more often this term.
It was De Bruyne's first league start in nearly three months, and he was keen to focus on City's improvement, instead of focusing on the table after Liverpool dropped points in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Newcastle United.
"It's not the moment to look at that," he told Amazon Prime. "It's been a hard period, we have to accept the challenge. The Premier League is getting harder and harder.
"We know that everyone is becoming a tough team to play and everybody is taking points off everybody.
"We have to improve as a team first and we'll see in a couple of months where we are. Hopefully, we would have improved a bit and are a lot closer."
Nuno Espirito Santo, meanwhile, was left disappointed at Forest's profligacy as they fell to a third defeat in four games.
Chris Wood, Anthony Elanga and Murillo all missed good chances, while Morgan Gibbs-White forced an impressive save from Stefan Ortega with the score at 1-0.
Speaking on Wood's one-on-one miss, Nuno told BBC Sport: "It was [a pivotal moment]. That minute was very pivotal because Chris had a good chance.
"He's a good striker, but it was inches from the post. That can change the momentum of the game. But the other way around, they had a chance, and they took it.
"It was a big punch in our stomachs and a big mountain to climb, but in the second half we tried. We had chances, but it wasn't meant to be. We look to the next one."
Alisson 'the best goalkeeper in the world', says Slot
Arne Slot paid tribute to the returning Alisson Becker, describing the Liverpool goalkeeper as the "best in the world" ahead of their clash with Fulham.
The Brazil international returned from injury in midweek, playing the full 90 minutes of the Reds' 1-0 win over Girona in the Champions League.
And Slot hopes he can build on the momentum of keeping a clean sheet, as Premier League leaders Liverpool prepare to return to domestic action after last weekend's Merseyside derby with Everton was postponed due to adverse weather conditions.
"We have an incredible goalkeeper. I said as a joke, maybe the players wanted to see how fit he was to give him so much work [against Girona]," the Reds boss said.
"He showed [on Tuesday] he is probably one of the best, in my opinion, the best goalkeeper in the world.
"Let's hope he can continue to keep bringing these performances and hope he can stay fit."
Fulham are fresh from a credible 1-1 draw with Arsenal last weekend, with the Cottagers now having lost just one of their last seven league games.
"I'm more pleased with the way our players fought [against Arsenal], the commitment, the organisation," head coach Marco Silva said.
"It's always tough when we play against them, but they know it will be tough, too. We create a difficult scenario for them.
"It was a tough week. In eight days, we played Tottenham, Brighton and Arsenal. [The players have] been great. The momentum is here for us, we have to be proud of the season so far."
Silva also heaped praise on Antonee Robinson following his consistent performances at left-back.
"He's been great for us. He's one of the best left-backs in this league," he added.
"It's not just the way he is able to stop players, but the way he is able to help. He's a top player and a great professional. He's a proper athlete and is improving in some defensive positions where we want him to improve.
"He's improving season by season, and week by week. We are really proud to have him with us."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Liverpool – Mohamed Salah
Salah is level with Erling Haaland as the Premier League's joint-top scorer with 13 league goals. He is also second to Bukayo Saka in the assists table, having provided eight.
The Egyptian has scored at least one goal in each of his last seven Premier League appearances. He has scored 99 home goals in 140 top-flight appearances, and another goal will mean he is the fourth-fastest player to reach 100.
Fulham – Raul Jimenez
Jimenez is level with Alex Iwobi as Fulham's top scorer in the league so far with five goals.
The Mexican has scored 12 goals in his last 21 Premier League starts for Fulham. Of all players with 1,000+ minutes for the club, Jimenez has the best minutes-per-goal ratio (192 minutes per goal).
MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN
Liverpool are four points clear at the top of the Premier League, having played a game less than second-placed Chelsea. They are unbeaten in 18 matches across all competitions (won 16, drawn two).
Arne Slot's side have the second-best home record in the Premier League this season, having won six of their seven league games at Anfield (lost one).
They have beaten Fulham in nine of their last 12 league meetings, including in each of their last four showdowns.
Although Fulham drew 1-1 at home to Arsenal last time out, they have now won just one of their last four games in the Premier League.
While they are unbeaten in three away from home (won one, drawn two), Silva's side have managed just two wins from seven league outings on the road this term.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Liverpool – 68.6%
Draw – 17.5%
Fulham – 13.9%
Guardiola remains positive despite ongoing Man City woes
Pep Guardiola remained upbeat despite watching Manchester City's alarming slump in form continue with a 2-0 defeat at Juventus in the Champions League.
The Spaniard's side sit 22nd in the Champions League table and are at risk of missing out on the next stage of the competition with only two games left to play.
City have lost seven of their last 10 matches across all competitions (W1 D2), as many defeats as they had suffered in their previous 105 matches combined (seven).
In fact, for the first time in his managerial career, Guardiola has failed to win three consecutive matches in the group/league phase of the Champions League (D1 L2). For the Citizens, meanwhile, it is their longest such run since the 2014-15 campaign (four - D2 L2).
"We played good, really really good," Guardiola told reporters. "So we missed the last pass, the last action, of course, some transitions happen, but I'm so proud of these players, they give everything, and they tried, and now we live in this period, and hopefully we can change and get results.
"I know it's difficult, it's difficult in the Champions League in Europe, but we play really good."
City's last two matches in the group phase are against Paris Saint-Germain and Club Brugge.
The competition's new format sees the top eight teams after eight rounds of the league phase advance into the round of 16 and avoid a playoff, which is now almost out of reach for Guardiola's team.
"We have two games. We need one point maybe, one victory, the last one is at home, and the situation is because the game against Feyenoord [when City gave up a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3] and especially Inter [a 0-0 draw]," the Spaniard added.
"But our three games away were really, really, really tough, and you have to accept it. And when we turn around, we don't forget that period, we appreciate more what we have done in the past, what they are going to in the future."
Since the start of November, City have conceded more goals across all competitions than any other team from Europe's big five leagues (21 in nine games).
They have also gone eight games without a clean sheet away from home in all competitions; the joint-longest such run of Guardiola's managerial career (also a run of eight in October 2016).
Unlike his manager, Ilkay Gundogan was left frustrated with the team's performance.
"Every attack we concede is so dangerous, and we are careless in the duels," Gundogan told TNT Sports.
"Instead of playing simple, we overcomplicate things by not timing things to pass the ball or release the ball.
"We lose balls in transition every time, giving them counter-attacks. We have to chase 60 metres back and that's not what we're built for. We are built for possession, to keep the ball and be strong. If you can't do anything in the duel, don't lose it, and it's not working out for us.
"We know exactly what is going wrong, we know the reasons. We haven't played bad. If you give away one chance, and they score, it's not easy to come back.
"It's obvious what is going wrong, it's just trying to find that switch to turn things around. Even if we're not getting the results, I don't think we're far off - which maybe sounds a little stupid, but that's what I feel.
"If we don't click, it's going to be tough. Only thing we can do is for every single individual to question themselves to do better, to sacrifice more and to contribute to the team so we can collectively get better."
Simeone wary of Champions League challenges despite winning run
Diego Simeone hopes Atletico Madrid can continue their excellent recent form to clinch a top-eight spot in the Champions League, but he remains wary of the challenges ahead.
Atletico won a 10th game in succession as they eased past Slovan Bratislava 3-1 at home on Wednesday, a result that leaves them one point outside the top eight with games against Bayer Leverkusen and RB Salzburg still to come.
It is Atletico's longest winning run in over a decade, since winning 13 in a row between August and October 2012.
"There are two games left, and they are very good teams," Simeone said. "We face Leverkusen, one of the best in the competition, and we will see how far we can go.
"We will give our maximum and see what the sum of our points brings us."
Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann, who scored a double, eased Atletico to victory against Slovan, though Simeone was left to rue a conceded penalty that briefly sent jitters through his side as the visitors made it 2-1.
"The effort was there," he said of Wednesday's performance. "The first half was controlled, with important chances, and then in the second, it was also controlled beyond that penalty.
"The players managed it well, and we won a game in which we cared a lot about the three points."
Atletico have been magnificent on their 10-game winning run, scoring 30 goals in that streak, effectively putting their sluggish start to the campaign behind them.
"It's football and football turns, changes, with moments of difficulty and others that lead you to be very good. We know what we have [in the team], where we are going, and we always try to improve."
Wednesday's match was notable for the fact that at one stage both coaches had their sons on the pitch. Giuliano Simeone started for Atletico, while Slovan coach Vladimir Weiss brought on his son, also Vladimir, for the final six minutes.
"I think that if the coach [Weiss] has chosen to put the player on, he did not think of putting his son on. Like me, neither of us have looked at them as a son, we look at them as footballers," Simeone added.
Among teams who have scored 100+ goals in the Champions League, only Lionel Messi (20.4% for Barcelona) has scored a higher percentage of a club's goals in the competition than Griezmann has for Atletico (19% - 36/189).
All of his Champions League goals for the Rojiblancos have come under Simeone. Only Messi under Pep Guardiola (43) and Mohamed Salah under Jurgen Klopp (41) have scored more goals under the same manager in the competition.
"The Champions League is complicated, goals matter a lot," Griezmann said. "It is a shame about the penalty. In the second half, we let them have the ball a lot. These are things to improve as always, but we are on the right track."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
