Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Jurgen Klopp, Manager of Liverpool celebrates with the Champions League Trophy after winning the UEFA Champions League Final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool
Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images
John Hartson states what trait Lewis Koumas has right now at Liverpool that he didn't have
John Hartson states what trait Lewis Koumas has right now at Liverpool that he didn't have
Alexander Isak missing Liverpool vs Man City could prompt a new role for Bradley Barcola
Alexander Isak missing Liverpool vs Man City could prompt a new role for Bradley Barcola
Liverpool fans should be excited after £30m youngster delivers superb international break
Liverpool fans should be excited after £30m youngster delivers superb international break
What happened the last time Liverpool faced Man City without Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola
What happened the last time Liverpool faced Man City without Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola
Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images
Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images
Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images
Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images
Photo by Isosport/MB Media/Getty Images
Photo by Isosport/MB Media/Getty Images
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
After Guardiola walked away from City this summer, though, neither the Spaniard nor Klopp will be involved in a Liverpool vs Man City game for the first time in more than 11 years this Sunday. Rewind back to that match, in March 2015, and it becomes apparent that so, so much has changed for both teams.
Virgil van Dijk for Liverpool
Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool beat Man City 2-1 in March 2015
Having run them so close one year previously, Liverpool were nowhere near Man City when Manuel Pellegrini took his team to Anfield in Spring 2015. City would ultimately lose their crown to Chelsea, but with the Reds struggling under Brendan Rodgers, they were favourites to be beaten on March 1st.
Nevertheless, Liverpool turned up, despite a midweek Europa League penalty exit to Besiktas, to deliver a rousing 2-1 win in front of their supporters.
As he often was back then, Philippe Coutinho was the star man for Liverpool, and he was inevitably the match winner, curling home a magnificent effort from the edge of the box past Joe Hart to give the Reds the lead with 15 minutes to play.
Jordan Henderson had scored an almost identical goal after only 11 minutes, sweeping into the top corner for one of his most memorable goals in a Liverpool shirt. Though Edin Dzeko equalised with a well-taken finish in front of the Kop 15 minutes later, the Reds deservedly stole it with a piece of Coutinho magic.
READ MORE: Liverpool’s chances of taking Manchester City’s 2013/14 Premier League title have been revealed
Who was in the XI for both teams?
Interestingly, both Liverpool and Man City fielded a player during this match who would go on to play for the other team. Raheem Sterling played the full match for the Reds, while James Milner came on with half an hour left to play for City. The pair would swap teams at the end of the season.
Elsewhere, Rodgers’ Liverpool XI is fascinating, and just goes to show how much the Northern Irishman’s back was against the wall at this point.
Rodgers had begun to favour a back three, and he went with Emre Can, Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren in front of Simon Mignolet. Alberto Moreno was at left wing-back, with the lesser-seen Lazar Markovic on the right.
Joe Allen and Henderson made up the midfield pivot, with Adam Lallana roaming, while Coutinho was charged with playing off Sterling as a makeshift strike partnership. Daniel Sturridge gave Liverpool a better focal point after coming off the bench in the second half, but it said everything about how Rodgers saw his options that Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert were all unused substitutes. Danny Ward and youngster Jordan Williams were the other two sat on the bench.
City, meanwhile, had plenty of quality in their XI but were far from the machine they would later become under Guardiola.
Hart was famously bombed out by the Barcelona legend, but retained his spot for another season after this one, while Eliaquim Mangala will go down as arguably the worst signing of City’s current era. He partnered captain Vincent Kompany at the back. Aleksandr Kolarov and Pablo Zabaleta were Pellegrini’s full-backs.
A box midfield of Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, David Silva and Samir Nasri should probably have had way too much for Liverpool, while Sergio Aguero and Dzeko were an elite partnership up front. The introduction of Wilfried Bony off the bench is a reminder that City didn’t always get it right in the transfer market during this period, while Frank Lampard was also substituted on for one of his final Premier League appearances.
The next time Liverpool and City met would bring one of the watershed moments in Klopp’s early time with the Reds; a 4-1 win at the Etihad which felt like a turning point for Liverpool players buying into his style of play. Klopp also led his team to a 3-0 win in the Premier League on March 2nd 2016, one year on from Rodgers’ final victory. Then Guardiola arrived, and everything changed.
The teams will obviously look much different when Liverpool and City meet on Sunday, and, for the first time in a long time, those in the dugouts will as well.