Big-game preview as Liverpool visit Manchester City looking to build on Tuesday's Champions League win over Real Madrid
Pep Guardiola greets Arne Slot
Pep Guardiola greets Arne Slot(Image: (Visionhaus/Getty Images))
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If there is a more daunting trip for Liverpool this season than Manchester City, it is likely a shortlist of one.
One of the shortest away-days of the campaign of less than 40 miles brings one of the toughest assignments for Arne Slot, and if there is a more difficult venue for the Reds this term then it is likely only league leaders Arsenal. And that is a debatable point.
Ordinarily then, particularly for a place where wins have been scant across the last decade - just two in the Premier League in 10 years - a draw would not represent a poor return.
But given Liverpool head to east Manchester with an eight-point deficit to Mikel Arteta's Gunners - a gap that would have been 10 were it not for Sunderland's late equaliser on Saturday night - it's tempting to label Sunday's game as a must-win.
In order for that, of course, Slot's team will have to limit the supply to goal-machine Erling Haaland, whose effort against former club Borussia Dortmund in midweek was his 18th of the campaign already across all competitions.
Thirteen of those have come in the Premier League and while their next top scorer in the division is Burnley's Maxime Esteve, owing to his two own goals from when the two side met in late September, there is an argument to be made that no-one else need contribute significantly when you have a generational talent for sticking the ball in the back of the net up top.
“It’s been a good start, and I feel really good. I feel this is the best version of myself," Haaland said this week. "I’ve never felt better than now. To keep sharp, I need to keep my mind in the right place, I need to recover well, I need to get a lot of treatment, I need to eat the right things."
If that is the bad news for Slot and his players, they roll into the Etihad in a buoyant mood on the back of successive Anfield victories against Aston Villa and Real Madrid.
The clean sheet against Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and co should embolden the Reds that another shut-out can be ground out in Manchester but Slot has some huge calls to make over his team selection.
The decision to recall Andy Robertson at left-back of late has been the correct one but after starting both those fixtures - as well the Crystal Palace defeat in the Carabao Cup last week - does the 31-year-old defender have another big shift in him?
Milos Kerkez is vying for a recall if not, but the Hungary international is yet to show the form that made him a £40m signing in the summer.
Conor Bradley has also had problems showcasing an ability to handle the intensity of the biggest games in quick succession. The Northern Ireland international turned one of the performances of his career to nullify Vinicius on Tuesday but how much has that taken out of a 21-year-old who has had his fitness issues? The fact the game was Tuesday evening should at least help on that score.
Guardiola says he is unlikely to risk a Rodri return, preferring to preserve the enormously influential Spanish midfielder until after the international break, while Slot is expected to recall Alexander Isak to the match-day squad after his return to training this week.
"It will be similar to [Real Madrid] a little bit," says Virgil van Dijk. "We are facing a very in form team like today and a striker, like today, who was in form.
"When that happens you have to be spot on and I think we showed we were good as a team defensively. We created good opportunities and they had a goalkeeper that saved them a couple of times."
There are further positive omens for the Reds in that they haven't lost to Sunday's hosts since the spring of 2023 and Slot did the double over Guardiola last time out.
"I think we pushed Liverpool to be better and they pushed us to be better," Guardiola said when reflecting on his rivalry with the Reds during his time in Manchester. "If I had to choose one rival for this (1000th game in management) milestone, that would be the best.
"Because I've been longer in this country than ever, I was at Barcelona as a boy and Bayern Munich were important but Liverpool have been the biggest rival in this country. It could not be better, to be honest. The universe has decided this.
"I know how quickly everything goes here. One week ago, Liverpool defeats and in disaster. Now they are coming back to their best. I'm pretty sure managers take their perspective. I have a higher opinion of Liverpool now right now than when we were losing six or seven."
Much of the external focus will inevitably fall on Guardiola marking his 1000th game of a legendary coaching career but Slot will be out to spoil the party.
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