By Daniel Ghorbal @GhorbalDan
Described by Jurgen Klopp as “the best team in Europe”, Manchester City’s start to the 2021/22 campaign has yet again proved their sheer quality and demonstrated exactly what they’ve been about for the previous few seasons. Liverpool’s start to the season has also been remarkable, unbeaten in all competitions whilst sitting top of the Premier League table and Champions League group.
Sunday’s mammoth affair between these two clubs comes at a time when three points could be crucial in deciding the outcome of the title. Both clubs are more than capable of going on long runs of wins as we’ve seen in their respective title winning campaigns, but with fans back in ground after an arduous year off duty, momentum could be huge in the long-run of this season.
A win for Liverpool would see them rise four points above their Manchester counterparts, whereas on the contrary a win for Manchester City would mean back to back away wins at their two toughest games of the season. This could not be set up any better for a thrilling contest.
City’s most recent game was one in which eyebrows will have been raised, a 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, the headlines grabbed by Lionel Messi scoring his first goal for the Parisiens, but the performance from Guardiola’s men on the night wasn’t bad at all. Bar some spectacular misses and moments of genius from the opposition, the contest was a tight one and yet another where Man City performed well.
Defensively, they have conceded just 1 league goal in the opening 6 games, coming on the opening day defeat to Tottenham, but questions have been asked of them going forward in certain games. The 0-0 draw at home to Southampton springs to mind, City failed to have a shot on target in the contest and struggled without a recognised number 9 in their ranks. Although Gabriel Jesus has started the season exceptionally well, Pep has been deploying him in a right-wing position, unlocking some of Jesus’ more hidden abilities.
The Brazilian has delivered some teasing crosses in recent games and also proven his goalscoring nous, combining well with the likes of Torres and Bernardo Silva too. Despite their failure to capture the services of Harry Kane during the summer, options are still in abundance for Manchester City and I wouldn’t be surprised if Guardiola is having headaches about who he opts for this weekend. Liverpool showed in their last league game at Brentford that there still are some defensive questions to be asked of themselves, and whether Pep uses the Brentford performance as encouragement to step forward onto Liverpool is yet to be seen.
In this fixture last season, Phil Foden was at the heart of everything good about City’s dynamism, and after a quiet opening to the campaign through injuries and rotation, he will be hoping to have been given the nod.
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A crucial variant in deciding the outcome of this game will be the crowd. Anfield has been electric on many an occasion against City, notably in the Champions League quarter-final victory and 3-1 win during the title winning campaign.
Having missed out on this last-season, the feeling around the ground will be vibrant come 4.30 on Sunday afternoon. With the greatest respect to Manchester City who rightfully won in the behind closed doors game last season, they are yet to prove that they can handle the intimidating atmosphere of Anfield and get a result in the most high-pressured environments.
Their result against Chelsea has given Liverpool a real reminder of just how good their opposition this weekend have been, and the tempo needs to be set early on to make sure the crowd is fully behind them. Anfield is ready.
Predicted XI
