Erratic Liverpool just another notch on City's run
The two sides who have most closely duked it out for the Premier League title in the past few years meet at Anfield on Sunday in the Premier League in contrasting positions and form. Liverpool are far worse off than they were at the same stage of their title-winning 2019/2020 campaign, to the tune of 24 points. Though key absentees in defence, especially Virgil van Dijk, have massively affected the defence of their crown, that doesn't fully explain their drop-off, and neither does the squeezed schedule. Opponents Manchester City are on a 19-game unbeaten run and a 13-game winning streak across all competitions, emphatically putting to bed their utterly underwhelming start to the term. All of this has come without being able to rely on a potent striker, and the huge tightening of their backline should deeply worry Jürgen Klopp. Read our preview here:
Centre back pack
The season-ending injury to Joel Matip proved to be the straw that broke the proverbial back for Klopp, forcing his hand in the last hours of the transfer market. In have come Ben Davies, consistently of the Championship's better centre backs with Preston North End, and promising Turkish international Ozan Kabak has arrived on loan from German Bundesliga outfit Schalke 04. Both are available for Sunday afternoon's must-win tie, but it's difficult to foresee both starting. Fabinho will almost certainly retain his temporary place at the heart of the defence, whilst Sadio Mané should shake off a knock to rejoin the tried and true triumvirate at the sharp end of the pitch. Goalkeeper Alisson is also a big doubt, but his head coach will almost certainly risk him in a match of such magnitude. The balance in midfield is actually very good at present, but of more concern will be all the blanks drawn in front of goal - five in the last seven league games is a deeply worrying statistic, and speaks not of a sudden drop-off of quality, but of players, especially up front, not having the luxury of a break, given that the treatment tables are almost always full.
Buenos Dias
At the other end, John Stones and Rúben Dias have cemented a very effective partnership for Pep Guardiola, and the form of key men in midfield in the absence of a reliable goalscorer up top has been a huge boon. Ilkay Gundögan has bagged six goals in his last 10 outings to become joint top scorer alongside Raheem Sterling for the Citizens, and the latter might nominally lead the line against an untried Reds backline, but will swap positions with Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden by dovetailing and being generally very awkward customers to pick up by their markers. The solidity of Dias in particular has put less pressure on Gundögan to assist Rodri in defensive situations in central midfield, freeing up the German box-to-box midfielder to stick far higher upfield than he'd previously had the licence to do.
Pep in his step
The hosts have previously found it very easy to upset City's rhythm, and have ruthlessly targeted any space on the counter. Now however, there just isn't that same amount of energy in their ranks, and several individuals are out of form and in dire need of a rest. Of course, that doesn't mean they're incapable of springing a surprise on Sunday, and the visitors' record-breaking run will have to come to an end at some juncture, but it doesn't seem nearly as likely to be this weekend as many might've suspected even several weeks ago. Pep Guardiola has, despite that weak spot up front, made his team a little more pragmatic to go along with all their myriad technical qualities, and that will make all that much harder for Pool to break down. bet365 are offering odds for City to win without conceding at odds of 4.00.
