Manchester City host Liverpool in the latest instalment of English football's defining modern rivalry in the FA Cup sixth round on Saturday.
Mohamed Salah will bid farewell to the fixture, having announced he will leave Liverpool at the end of this season.
There are increasingly fewer familiar faces remaining from the peak Pep Guardiola vs Jurgen Klopp years still around. City captain Bernardo Silva is out of contract at the end of this season and could lead the Blues against Liverpool for the final time.
However, another of the main faces of this 21st-century argument will also not be out on the grass in Manchester this weekend.
MORE: Man City vs. Liverpool as it happens
Where is Pep Guardiola for Man City vs. Liverpool
City manager Guardiola will watch Saturday's match from the Etihad Stadium stands as he serves the second of a two-match ban for yellow card accumulation.
Guardiola was also absent from the dugout for City's 0-0 draw at West Ham last month.
He was allowed on the touchline for the 2-0 Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal because, under Football Association rules, yellow card accumulation bans do not apply for major cup finals.
When did Pep Lijnders join Man City
Klopp's former Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders will take Guardiola's place in the City technical area against his former employers.
When Guardiola refreshed his coaching team this summer, he sought Klopp's blessing to bring in Lijnders, worked at Liverpool for the best part of a decade between 2014 and 2024.
Pepijn Lijnders - Liverpool - November 2021
This spell was broken by a stint as head coach of NEC in the Dutchman's homeland. He left Liverpool with Klopp following the German's final season on Merseyside in 2023/24. An u unsuccessful stint in charge of Red Bull Salzburg followed.
“I had a lot of info from other people about him who had been trained or managed by him at Liverpool. I needed to refresh myself first with new people who have incredible knowledge about the game and the Premier League and I love a lot many things that he did with Jurgen at Liverpool. We talked one day, I think we felt connected immediately. I am incredibly lucky that since the first day I started as a manager [with] all my backroom staff and close people and Pep is one of them.”