On Sunday the late kick off in the day is a huge match between Manchester City and Liverpool. Although both sides are having largely successful seasons, both have had their troubles recently as City crashed out of the Champions League to Monaco and Liverpool have been fairly inconsistent. The Reds have won 3 of their last 5 but their results have been very unpredictable. Following a 2-0 loss to Hull City at the beginning of February they then went on to beat Spurs 2-0. A similar situation then followed as they were totally outplayed by Leicester City and then going on to beat Arsenal the following week. Other than their recent fatal loss in Europe to Monaco Man City have been fairly successful as of late and therefore given that they are the home side for this fixture you’d have to put them as favorites. Soccer played by Klopp’s teams is always incredible to watch because of it’s attacking nature but the tactical abilities and in-game management of Pep Guardiola are outstanding. On Sunday I think we can expect to see the tactical nature of their game and home advantage carry City to victory.
Manchester City are without their new star striker Gabriel Jesus and so it’s almost certain that Sergio Aguero will be in the starting line up. But there’s definitely worse strikers to replace Gabriel Jesus right? City are likely to continue using their very midfield heavy formation with Aguero playing alone in attack but realistically with the midfielders that Pep Guardiola has at his disposal, goals could come from anywhere on the pitch. It’s all well and good having a good attack but City haven’t been great at the back so far this season and if there’s going to be a team to expose that I wouldn’t be surprised if Liverpool would be that team. Both sides have similar weaknesses and strengths, in that they are very good going forwards but organization in defence can sometimes be nothing short of chaotic. In recent years this has resulted in some pretty high scoring games, so let’s hope we’re in for yet another thrilling game that’s packed with goals. In the last 10 times the sides have met, on only one of those occasions was there 2 or fewer goals. Of those 10 games on 6 occasions were there more than 3 goals making a bet on 2+ goals worth a punt in my opinion.
When it comes to the importance of the fixture as well as it being a battle between two of the Premier League’s titans the match holds more meaning to each side than usual. Manchester City currently sits in 3rd place in the table, level on points with Tottenham Hotspur. Given that Spurs currently have quite a depleted side with injuries it’s more likely than ever that they might drop points and so this presents City with a chance to move up the table and attempt to chase after Chelsea at the top although I feel it’s unlikely that any team will be catching them now. For Liverpool, it’s a race for top 4. They currently sit in 4th but if Arsenal wins all their games in hand the team from Merseyside would drop down to 5th meaning that they would miss out on Champions League soccer next season. Therefore this is very much a must-win game for both sides.
One thing is for sure, that if history repeats itself, as they say, we’re in for one incredible match.
