The sheer speed and fluency of Liverpool's front three, all interchanging positions, dizzied their opponents.
Lucas and Lamela keep interchanging positions, with the Argentine now on the right.
Coutinho, Firmino, Origi, Lallana and Mané have all weighed in with goals and assists, interchanging positions at will.
Their attack-minded players interchanged positions fluently and, at times, it was remarkable to see how much space they enjoyed in central areas.
The most striking point was the frequency with which Hodgson's front men interchanged positions, offering a fluidity that made them difficult to pin down.
Better teams will and it can feel like a dreary old system on nights like these when there are two banks of four rather than players with the licence to interchange positions.
City played with width and penetration and their attacking quartet had an elusive quality, Dzeko remaining the focal point but Tevez, Balotelli and Silva interchanging positions, driving forward from all angles.
"I started as the No10 and then afterwards with Mata, we tried to interchange positions rather than stay in the same place and I think we worked rather well," said Hazard, who was withdrawn for his fellow new signing Oscar.
"My personal opinion," says Efstathiadis, "is that interchanging positions makes the scientist understand the real world and be really useful to the society".
The total football approach requires the players to move in a fluid formation, where players can interchange positions quickly.
