Match Preview – Liverpool v Manchester CityKick Off – 15:45
Venue – Anfield
TV – Sky Sports Main Event
OfficialsReferee: Michael Oliver.
Assistants: Stuart Burt, Dan Cook.
Fourth official: David Coote
VAR: Stuart Attwell
Assistant VAR: Nick Hopton
Klopp v Guardiola – the last dance…or is it?“I will sleep better [when Klopp goes]. The games we play before against Liverpool were almost a nightmare. Of course he will be missed. It was a shock. I felt when I heard it that a part of Man City … we will lose something. We cannot define our period here without him … without Liverpool. Impossible. They have been our biggest rivals. And personally he [Klopp] has been the best rival I ever had in my life – in Dortmund when I was in Bayern, then here.” – Pep Guardiola.
Much will be made of the fact that the two greatest managers of the modern era will face off for the final time in the Premier League at Anfield. It has been a classic rivalry forged over a decade, Klopp often defying the odds with his comparatively moderate resources to keep pace with and topple Guardiola’s teams of unlimited riches, both in England and Germany. This may just be the most important of those head to heads yet, with a win putting daylight between Liverpool and their rivals going into the final ten games of the season, the Championship rounds as it were.
Of course this may not actually be the final time the two managers face off, with the tantalising prospect of Klopp’s final game in England being an FA Cup Final in May, should both teams progress to the Anfield South showpiece.
Match PreviewThis one needs no billing. Liverpool lead the Premier League by one point from Man City, with Arsenal a point further back in 3rd. Reds fans will be forgiven for feelings of anxiousness about this position and the looming shadow of the visitors, having been narrowly pipped to the Premier League title in 2019 and 2022 by the barest of margins in final day shoot outs. But crucially, the Reds have never entered March ahead of the visitors with the prospect of Man City having to come to Anfield, a ground where they have notoriously wilted when faced with the heat of the Anfield crowd. Sunday represents a glorious opportunity for the Reds to open up a four-point gap to Man City with just ten Premier League games to play, with the visitors still to host Arsenal and visit Tottenham. This potentially could be the difference maker and advantage that we never had in 2019 and 2022, when we had to visit the Etihad in the second part of the season and had to chase the opposition down each week right to the end. Strap yourselves in folks – this is going to be a blockbuster.
It would be remiss of me not to touch on the 115 to date unanswered Profit and Sustainability charges that are currently levied against our visitors. Fine football team though they are, the unanswered charges continue to be a dark cloud over the biggest competitions with very clear question marks remaining around the legitimacy of their success. Anyone connected with them bristle at the accusation that they have done anything wrong, or that they have ‘cheated’, as the allegations currently suggest. Nothing to see here guv’nor, it’s all the fault of the established cartel that’s out to stop poor City. Clearly, the sportswashing project undertaken by their Abu Dhabi regime has worked with the previously success starved locals.
It's been six years since Pep Guardiola, in the changing room at Goodison Park during a Premier League fixture with Everton, infamously uttered the words ‘they scare me’, about the Reds emerging famed trio of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah, footage which was shown on the ‘Manchester City: All or Nothing’ documentary, ahead of a Champions League quarter-final at Anfield. With his head scrambled with fear, Pep would go into full meltdown following a raucous bus welcome outside Anfield, playing Aymeric Laporte at left back believing that Jurgen would shuffle his pack and play Firmino from the right and Salah through the middle. Klopp of course stuck to the tried and tested plan, Salah and Firmino caused havoc and Liverpool would go on to run riot, leading 3-0 after half an hour.
I guess the point I’m attempting to make here is that Liverpool, Anfield and Klopp, can very clearly unsettle Guardiola and his players. That was one of a litany of strange decisions he has made against the Reds, along with various levels of meltdowns on the touchline, in interviews and barbed comments he has made.
So this is where Anfield comes into play. We have seen the impact that we, as fans, can have on this fixture, on Pep and on his players. All of us that are fortunate enough to have a ticket need to bring their absolute best on Sunday – starting from the bus welcomes, to pre-match, to ensuring that for 90 minutes we are at our loud, aggressive, snarling best to give our players that extra push. Let’s show them that Trent Alexander-Arnold is absolutely right – that this really does mean more to us. In case you needed reminding, here’s our record against Pep Guardiola’s Man City at Anfield under Klopp –
31 December 2016 – Liverpool 1-0 Manchester City
14 January 2018 – Liverpool 4-3 Manchester City
04 April 2018 – Liverpool 3-0 Manchester City (UEFA Champions League)
07 October 2018 – Liverpool 0-0 Manchester City
10 November 2019 – Liverpool 3-1 Manchester City
07 February 2021 – Liverpool 1-4 Manchester City* 03 October 2021 – Liverpool 2-2 Manchester City
16 October 2022 – Liverpool 1-0 Manchester City
*denotes fixture being played behind closed doors due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Injury NewsThere was the welcome sight of Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai making successful returns against Sparta Prague. All three will surely be in line to start on Sunday.
All eyes and ears will be on Jurgen’s press conference at 1.30pm today for an update on Ibrahima Konate, who was withdrawn as a ‘precaution’, having seemingly suffered some discomfort in a muscle area. There was initially some concern over Joe Gomez, however Klopp has already cleared this up as a rotational substitution to manage Joe’s recent workload.
Provided they are fit, I would retain Gomez at left back with Konate continuing to partner Virgil and Conor Bradley continuing at right back. In the event that Konate doesn’t make it, I would show faith in Jarell Quansah to come in, although the more natural decision would be for Gomez to partner Virgil and Andy Robertson coming in at left back.
Predicted line up – (4-3-3) Kelleher, Bradley, Konate, van Dijk, Gomez, Endo, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Salah, Diaz, Nunez
Come on you mighty Reds! YNWA.
