Liverpool still an exceptional team - Pep
Manchester City host Liverpool in Saturday’s early Premier League kick off as they hope to close the gap on current leaders Arsenal.
The gap between Pep Guardiola’s side and the Gunners is eight points though City have a game in hand and Arsenal do not play until this afternoon. The reigning champions can therefore pile some pressure on Mikel Arteta’s team if they manage to defeat Liverpool.
An indifferent season for the Reds has seen them knocked out of every cup competition and leaves them with an uphill battle to finish in the Champions League qualification places. Liverpool are currently sixth in the table and seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham with two games in hand. Victory for Jurgen Klopp’s men today would be a strong statement of their desire to finish the season well and would increase the pressure on top four rivals Tottenham and Newcastle.
Both managers are also dealing with injuries to key personnel. Guardiola will be worried about in form striker Erling Haaland as well as Phil Foden who left the England squad following surgery to remove his appendix. Klopp meanwhile is without midfielders Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic but Darwin Nunez should be fit to feature.
Follow all the action from Manchester City vs Liverpool:
Klopp vs Guardiola
Jurgen Klopp has won 11 of 27 matches as a manager against Pep Guardiola, with the Spaniard claiming nine victories and seven games ending in draws (including those decided by penalty shoot-outs).
Man City vs Liverpool
Victory would ensure Liverpool become the fourth club to record 250 Premier League away wins, after Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Man City vs Liverpool
Pep Guardiola’s side have won 25 of their previous 27 home matches in league and cup with one draw and one defeat.
A sixth consecutive clean sheet in all competitions would equal their club record, a sequence they last recorded in November and December 2020.
Pre-match thoughts of Pep Guardiola
Man City boss Pep Guardiola talking to BT Sport: “There are a lot of games of football left and a lot of things can happen. We don’t feel as though Arsenal will drop many points but hopefully we can be there as long as possible.
“I would love to be in Arsenal’s position but until the last moment we will fight. We have done it for many, many years. It is step by step, game by game and we will see what happens.
“To be in contention for all the competitions, this is amazing. When you win you have the tendency to drop a bit but we are still there and this makes me happy.”
The untold consequences if Liverpool fail to save their season
The last time Liverpool scored a goal, it was historic. It was also almost four weeks ago: not exactly history, but not particularly recent either. It was when Roberto Firmino made it Liverpool 7 Manchester United 0; it became the biggest victory in their meetings, replacing a 7-1 in the 19th century. It was by far and away Liverpool’s most memorable scoreline in March, but perhaps not their most significant.
If a trip to Bournemouth was sandwiched by the glamour games against United and Real Madrid, a 1-0 defeat told a story of a season in itself. A team who have often shown a capacity to beat the best under Jurgen Klopp can now lose to the worst: like Leeds and Nottingham Forest before them, Bournemouth kicked off in the relegation zone against Liverpool and won. If the evisceration of United had propelled Liverpool back into the position of the favourites to clinch fourth place, the setback on the south coast reframed the debate. They will have to do it the hard way. The last few years indicate Liverpool have the ability to go on extended winning runs. Now, consistently inconsistent, they veer between taking two steps forward and then one back or one step forward and two back.
Now there is the sense that a season with a false start and a troubled middle could come to a premature end. A triple header against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal could finish off their stuttering attempts to return to the Champions League, especially if Brighton, Newcastle and Tottenham pick up enough points in the meantime. It seems a case of three games to save their campaign, nine days to ensure it isn’t a wasted nine months.
Jurgen Klopp’s side face Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal in the space of a season-defining nine days as the Reds attempt to salvage their top-four bid
Man City vs Liverpool
Liverpool are in danger of losing three consecutive fixtures in all competitions without scoring for the first time since 2009.
They have scored 13 goals in as many away league games this season but have failed to net in four of their last five top-flight matches on the road.
Will Man City miss Erling Haaland?
Erling Haaland has scored 42 competitive goals in 37 games for City - the only players to have netted more in a season for a Premier League club are Ruud van Nistelrooy (2002/03) and Mohamed Salah (2017/18), who netted 44 for Manchester United and Liverpool respectively.
Haaland has scored 42% of Man City’s Premier League goals this season (28/67), while his goals have also been worth 20 points to the Citizens.
All three (28 goals, 42% and 20 points) are the highest by a Manchester City player in a single Premier League campaign.
Klopp on resetting after international break
Jurgen Klopp was asked whether the international break came at a good time for Liverpool to reset and attack the last stretch of the season as the target a top four finish.
“For me, yes. I was ready for a few days without analysing this game [in Madrid] again,” he said, “I don’t even have to talk about it anymore but that’s not what we want to be, definitely not.
“I have no problem with getting knocked out by Real Madrid – not that I wouldn’t be used to it in my career – but you can play and lose there and everything but we should show more than we did that night.
“We couldn’t; it’s not that the boys didn’t want to, we couldn’t, and that’s of course my responsibility. But I still don’t like the game. I was ready and I’m ready again, that’s the cool part of it – you need a few days to just let it settle and then go again.
“There’s two months [left in the season]; we can reach a lot for us, or nothing, or whatever, while we are planning already the next season and these kinds of things.
“So, there’s everything in it. This is the start, nothing else, but it’s an important start.”
Guardiola on Haaland’s absence
Pep Guardiola has spoken to BT Sport ahead of the game and explained why Erling Haaland is not in today’s squad saying:
“He is not fit. He doesn’t feel proper. It is not a big issue but today he was not right.”
Man City vs Liverpool
Manchester City are aiming to win four consecutive league matches for the first time this season.
On the two previous occasions they have won three successive top-flight games this term they have lost their next fixture - including a 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in October.
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