Mark Ogden discusses the rivalry between Manchester City and Liverpool in recent years and why that is the case this season. (0:46)
Are Liverpool in a position to regain the Premier League crown they won in 18 editions in the dark days of COVID in 2020?Saturday’s ‘summit conference’ against Manchester City’s leaders is the litmus test of whether they are suitors or suitors.
Jurgen Klopp’s “mentality monsters” turned into comparative midgets last season when finishing fifth, but the team the manager christened his “Liverpool Mark 2.0” have been rebuilt into a dangerous outfit, scoring in every game this season. City’s thrilling 4-4 draw at Chelsea last time out allowed Liverpool to move within a single point of the top with a 3-0 win over Brentford, and this is as close as they have been all season, enough to set pulses racing in the red half of Merseyside.
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This Stamford Bridge blockbuster once again highlighted just how vulnerable the city can be, for all its elegance and invincibility, if opposing groups are ambitious and smart enough to take them on. Remember how Wolves beat them at Molineux in September, obstructing half the competition. spaces and relying on quick counter-attacks from Pedro Neto and Matheus Cunha to pull off a wonderful 2-1 win. Could this be Liverpool’s style? Arsenal also managed to beat the European champions, albeit in a closer game in which City, for the first time, looked completely helpless.
It is another Liverpool from the title-winning team, who benefited greatly from the number of goals created thanks to the very good forays and deliveries of full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, for the mythical trio of batsmen formed by Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino. and Sadio. Mane.
Of course, Salah is still in lethal form. His two goals against Brentford in the last round of matches lifted him to 200 in his English career. But Mane and Firmino have been replaced by the improving — but still erratic — Darwin Núñez, Luis Díaz, Diogo Jota (four goals in his last five league games), and the stylish Dutch player Cody Gakpo, who can also put in a shift in midfield.
The speed of Nunez, who scored in Uruguay’s big win in Argentina, may pose a specific risk for the Etihad. It is in the engine room that this reinvented Liverpool has replaced the most. The old guard of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Gini Wijnaldum provided a solid, hard-working unit, box by box, as his team won the title, and Henderson was voted Footballer of the Year through the Football Writers’ Association, a coveted award dating back to Stanley Matthews in 1948.
The new style of midfield features new signings Alexis Mac Allister, a visionary passer in Argentina’s World Cup victory, and Dominik Szoboszlai, the Hungarian football star who stunned his colleagues with his fitness and skill in a blistering start to his Anfield career. Ryan Gravenberch, When everyone is fit, Klopp will also be able to call on the veteran Thiago, the underrated Curtis Jones, the Japanese Wataru Endo, the promising Harvey Elliott and Stefan Bajcetic, who made such an impression last season. This is a real embarrassment for wealth in a key area.
It can be argued that this revamped midfield has made Klopp’s side smarter, more cunning and creative, and less reliant on quick forays from the two full-backs. On the other hand, does the new brigade offer the same shield as the four rearguards?Probably not.
Mac Allister has been asked to play the No. 6 starting role, which is a replacement for the more complex speed he held in the past during his career. Could he stay on the bench at City after betting and flying after the massive Brazil?Does Argentina crash just three days before the project at the Etihad?Endo, a natural defensive midfielder, may have the unavoidable task of sitting up front and protecting the back four.
Liverpool’s Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson and City’s Argentinian Julian Alvarez also return from the South American clash. In fact, 28 players from both groups have been on mission abroad, as this Saturday’s start at 12:30 is not ideal for either coach. (don’t mention Jürgen Klopp for that). Choices can be influenced by who is considered to be compatible and new enough to play. City’s Erling Haaland and Ederson have missed recent foreign games due to injury, but it wouldn’t be unexpected. if it were declared that they are all compatible for such an important match. (Rodri was also reportedly injured, but made the impression in Spain’s second game after the break. )
To pass this big test of their credentials, Liverpool will have to do what no other team has controlled at the Etihad this calendar year: avoid defeat. City have kept all newcomers off their turf since Everton picked up a valuable point there in New York. Christmas Eve. That’s 23 consecutive home wins.
The game is huge and feisty. Liverpool have not beaten City in the Premier League since a 4-1 win in 2015, just a month after Klopp’s appointment. At the time, many said it was the day he “really arrived”, but it’s been a long time since Martin Skrtel was among the scorers and Samir Nasri and Jesus Navas were part of a City side controlled by Manuel Pellegrini.
Since then, the effects of the City vs Liverpool league matches at the Etihad are as follows (City scores first) 5-0, 1-1, 2-1, 4-0, 1-1, 2-1 and 4-1 last. season. You can say it was then, it’s now, and all trends are here to be broken, but those effects highlight how difficult it is to succeed at Manchester City. Brentford were the last team to do so, avoiding City. They press with long balls and concede two goals from Ivan Toney.
Klopp will know that his side, who have a 100 per cent record at Anfield, want to improve away from home, where they have failed to impress, specifically in the recent holiday in Luton, where only a goal from Luis Diaz’s equaliser saved his blush. The defence also looked shaky in the 2-2 draw at Brighton.
So the question might come down to this: is this new Liverpool resilient enough to face the kind of attack risk that City produce most weeks at home? Or can Liverpool find holes in City’s defence, as Chelsea did a fortnight ago?
The answers to those two questions will tell us plenty about whether “Liverpool Mark 2 ” can repeat the exploits of their original stars.