The last five Premier League titles had been between Liverpool and Manchester City and every meeting between the two sides have been a potential title battle. Their first meeting in the league this season will however take a different dimension. While Pep Guardiola’s side are placed second on the log and a point behind leaders-Arsenal, Jurgen Klopp’s men are 10th in the table. Sunday’s meeting between the two is an avenue for the Reds to put their season back on track, but against a rampaging Etihad side marshaled by free-scoring Erling Haaland not many would put their money against the blue half of Manchester
Liverpool Manager, Jurgen Klopp could not have been clearer when he replied bluntly, “We’re not in the race,” when asked about his team’s Premier League title chances following their 3-2 defeat by Arsenal last weekend.
Given that the Reds are already 14 points adrift of top spot, Klopp is almost certainly right. That is a hugely disappointing position for Liverpool to be in before we have even reached the pause for the 2022 World Cup in November.
Klopp’s side pushed Manchester City all the way last term. In the end they were edged out by a point. Liverpool also came up just short in the Champions League, going down 1-0 to Real Madrid in the final. They may have won the FA Cup and the EFL Cup in 2021/22, but it was hard to shake the feeling of ‘what might have been’.
Any silverware would be an achievement from the position the club finds itself in right now. Liverpool have endured a poor start to the campaign, failing to win six of their first eight Premier League games. They sit below Bournemouth and Fulham in the table and the top four may now be the best Liverpool can hope for this term.
The most alarming thing for the Reds is that they do not look like themselves. They were beaten last Sunday by an Arsenal team that played with the sort of energy and intensity that once characterized Klopp’s side.
Liverpool have often looked leggy and one-paced this season. Several key players, including Mohamed Salah, Fabinho, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, are out of form.
There is no question of Klopp being sacked, but there is an argument that this team has reached the end of the road. A major rebuild may be needed next summer. Before then, Liverpool must ensure they at least qualify for the Champions League.
Arsenal may be top of the table heading into the weekend, but Manchester City is still the strong title favourite team to win the title.
That is in part because of doubts over Mikel Arteta’s men, who have played superbly so far this term but have yet to prove that they have what it takes to maintain this sort of level over the course of a 38-game season.
Indeed, City would not be quite so heavily fancied if it was Liverpool that sat at the summit of the standings in the middle of October.
As it is, the team that has pushed them all the way in recent seasons has dropped off, potentially giving Pep Guardiola’s side a free run at the championship. Little wonder pundits believe City will triumph by 10 points or more.
The champions have the joint-best defensive record in the division to date, while they have scored considerably more goals than any other team: 33 versus the 23 of next-best Arsenal. Erling Haaland is on course to be the Premier League top scorer by some distance. Kevin De Bruyne is the division’s best all-rounder.
City have not been perfect, with dropped points against Newcastle United and Aston Villa. But this is a side that knows what it takes to win titles. Another is probably on its way to the Etihad Stadium trophy cabinet.
However, Man City midfielder, Kevin De Bruyne said he expects to face an in-form and full-throttle Liverpool at Anfield this weekend despite their poor start to the season. Klopp’s side have won just two of their eight Premier League games so far and trail Manchester City by 13 points already, with their manager already declaring their title challenge over.
Liverpool have been the only side to push City close in the league in recent seasons but they’ve lost a little spark this term, while the Blues have gone to another level in front of goal since the arrival of Haaland.
However, De Bruyne still expects a difficult game for City. “I expect them to be at the best Liverpool possible,” said De Bruyne. “Obviously they lost some points but they are still Liverpool and I expect them to be good, that’s the only way I see it.
“I like big games, I like good atmospheres. It’s a game like any other, obviously, it’s hard playing away at a top-six team always, I think the last few years we’ve done well, even last year if we didn’t win so I think it’s probably going to be a good game again.”
City were excellent in drawing 2-2 at Anfield last season and they won 4-1 on Merseyside the year before. While they’ve lost the FA Cup semi-final and Community Shield to Liverpool in the last two meetings, Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in the last five Premier League fixtures between the two teams.
De Bruyne puts City’s improvement against a team who have often posed them problems down to their ability to control games and take the sting out of Liverpool.
“Maybe we have more control of the game, they are more of an up-and-down team and we are a team who has more control of the game, so if you can control that style of play then maybe you have more of a chance,” he said.
“Last year I thought we played great but we didn’t win any of the games so sometimes it goes that way.”
Meanwhile, Klopp believe the victory over Rangers in the Champions League n Wednesday could help transform Liverpool’s mood ahead of Man City’s visit to Anfield.
He believes Liverpool’s mood is now “completely different” as they prepare to welcome Manchester City to Anfield on Sunday on the back of a 7-1 win at Rangers.
Klopp has admitted several times this term that confidence has been low within the Liverpool camp but he claimed the thumping win in Glasgow could have a transformative impact on the season as a whole ahead of Sunday’s showdown with City, a team he labelled as the best in the world.
“We will see, I am always ready for a change in the right direction, but we will see. We don’t have to make a big thing of it but the best football team in the world right now is coming to Anfield on Sunday. We will see what we can do,” Klopp said.
Credit:- THISDAY
It is possible.