Unstoppable Liverpool ready to heap more pain on wounded Manchester City
Slot’s all-conquering Reds could go 11 points clear at the top of the EPL table if they can beat the champions at Anfield on Sunday
WHEN the English Premier League (EPL) fixture list for the current season was drawn up in June, two matches that many football fans zeroed in on were the games between the defending champions Manchester City and the mighty Liverpool.
The first of those two titanic tussles takes place on Sunday (Dec 1, 11.55 pm kickoff, Singapore time) with a red-hot Liverpool looking to pile more misery on a woeful Manchester City team that appear to have forgotten what it’s like to win.
The Blues’ (Man City’s nickname) definitely had a November to forget, as they failed to win any of their five games in all competitions (four defeats and a draw). Earlier this week, they were leading Feyenoord 3-0 with just 15 minutes left to play, but somehow capitulated towards the end and had to settle for a 3-3 draw – a result so stinging that it felt like a defeat.
City boss Pep Guardiola is not one to back down from what is the worst run of his storied managerial career, but the 53-year-old Spaniard knows he has to fix things soon or his club’s season could spiral out of control.
It’s not all doom and gloom, of course. City are still in second place in the EPL standings, eight points behind their opponents this weekend. City are languishing in 15th position in the Champions League, but a closer look at the table shows they are just two points behind the top eight.
Guardiola now has to prepare his wounded and demoralised team for the biggest match of their campaign – a trip to the cauldron that is Anfield to face an in-form Liverpool that have won 14 of their last 15 games (the lone exception being a difficult 2-2 draw at Arsenal last month).
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 2 pm
Lifestyle
Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself.
A visibly shaken Guardiola himself admitted this week that his English champions are physically and mentally “fragile”. His team have struggled with an injury crisis that includes the influential midfielder Rodri.
“It has been, is being and will be a tough season for us. We have to accept it for many circumstances,” he told a press conference.
If City are to somehow leave Anfield with all three points, they will have to go against recent history. Despite winning the EPL for the last four seasons in a row, Guardiola hasn’t had much luck at Liverpool’s home stadium.
In all, Guardiola has visited Liverpool nine times as City manager and he’s only tasted victory once – a 4-1 win behind closed doors in February 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic. He’s lost five times and the other three games were draws.
Unstoppable Reds
When Jurgen Klopp departed Liverpool in the summer after nine successful years in charge, few could have expected the type of season that the Reds have enjoyed under their new manager Arne Slot.
The 46-year-old Dutchman has eased into one of the hottest seats in world football, with an impressive record of 17 wins, one draw and just one defeat in his 19 matches so far. Liverpool’s classy 2-0 win over Real Madrid this week meant they maintained their 100 per cent winning record and became the first club to reach the Champions League’s Round of 16.
In the EPL, Liverpool are the bookies’ overwhelming favourites to win the title. In the 32-year history of England’s top division, all three teams that have held an advantage of eight points or greater at this stage of the season have gone on to finish first.
The Reds have won the league only once since 1990. They have finished second in recent seasons to City by a single point as Guardiola’s men collected six of the last seven titles.
Whether he was playing some mind games or not, Slot refused to admit that Liverpool are a shoo-in for this Sunday’s big game and, more importantly, this season’s league championship.
“(Man City) are still a very good team and one of the reasons why Pep is the best in the world, he always comes up with solutions for his problems,” Slot told reporters on Thursday.
“I don’t think anyone in the last eight or nine years, or maybe even longer, would have said that when facing City, home or away, that the word ‘easy’ ever comes to mind.”
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
