Last season we approached the year in a way that otherwise seems absolutely perfect. Obliterate the lower sides, tighten up away against the top six but open up and beat them at home. Really it was a season straight out of the title winning textbook, two results against Leicester and West Ham aside.
This year we come into the season with a fresh perspective. It seems ridiculous to say but in the current climate up against this Man City team, there's no such thing as a point gained, only two points dropped. We're not going to win every game all season but we need to go out to win every time. It was here and at Goodison where we surrendered control of the title last year with reserved performances that, uncharacteristically, lacked a bit of ambition. It was as if we felt that as long as we got out of those games without losing, we would still have momentum and other points would be dropped to get us back in charge. In the end we couldn't afford it and we can't afford it now.
I know it's never quite that simple in football, and we do have to remember this is always tough game to play, but over the years it's been painful watching us arrive at Old Trafford in good form only to go hiding. I don't think we need a Liverpool performance of a few years ago where we're wide open and we could be 2 down or 2 up depending on a bit of luck. But I do really want to see us take this by the scruff of the neck. They are absolutely undeniably fucking awful at the moment. They don't deserve the respect we showed them last year, or every other year we've gone there in the past ten years other than 2009 and 2014. Get on the ball, make the runs, take the risks, get the full backs doing what they've been doing consistently for the past 18 months.
I'd like to see Chamberlain or Keita play although it is unlikely given their lack of action over recent months. Failing that, there's big responsibility with Henderson and Wijnaldum to be able to offer something extra in terms of creativity. They will be all over the front three and we've seen here in the past that they can do a decent job of keeping them relatively quiet. That's when our midfield have to step up and give them some help. We've got absolutely nothing to fear coming here. It's an absolutely incredible opportunity to maintain an eight point gap on the chasing pack, pick up another two points on last season, and show everyone that we have taken a European Cup winning side, a 97 point Premier League side, and made it even better.
I believe the phrase is: "straight into these manc c*nts"
