Manchester City against Liverpool has become the rivalry at the top of the Premier League over the past decade — with those clubs sharing the last eight English titles in a row. Not since 2016-17, when Chelsea won it, has a different name appeared on the trophy. Pep Guardiola’s team have six championships in that time to Liverpool’s two.
Arne Slot’s men were streets ahead of them and everybody else last season, though, winning both games between these clubs 2-0 on their way to finishing 13 points clear of third-placed City. Two 1-1 draws in 2023-24 mean City have not come out on top in this fixture since April 2023.
Guardiola’s lads look back to their best in the early months of this season after the extended wobble in the previous one that wrecked their hopes of a fifth straight domestic title.
So, what could happen when the champions visit their Etihad Stadium on Sunday? Our Manchester City correspondent Jordan Campbell and Liverpool counterpart Andy Jones assess the key issues.
How do you expect your club’s manager to approach this game?
Jordan Campbell: It would not surprise me to see Guardiola’s side cede more possession than we have been used to at times today — as they have done in other big games this season.
Playing that way is helping them generate counter-attacking opportunities for striker Erling Haaland in a way they had not been able to since his first few months in English football three years ago — before teams realised that they should probably drop as deep as possible to deny him space.
The question is whether Guardiola believes he can play with as bold a line-up as he chose for the 3-1 home win against Bournemouth, who began the day second in the league, last weekend. He started Phil Foden and summer signing Rayan Cherki together for the first time but shelved his usual preference for touchline wingers by using those two, plus Jeremy Doku, in a central area.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot and City manager Pep Guardiola last season (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
The way that trio clustered together allowed City to combine quickly and beat the Bournemouth counterpress in midfield, which is something they could look to replicate against a Liverpool side who operate without a conventional defensive midfielder.
City playing that way requires a solid two behind those three to support that attacking shape. Nico Gonzalez is excelling at the base of midfield and it may be the case that Bernardo Silva is preferred as his partner on Sunday because of his defensive responsibility. Alternatively, Tijjani Reijnders offers running power that could hurt Liverpool on the break.
Foden has improved the defensive side of his game to the point that Guardiola trusts him to play a more complete role in the centre of the pitch, but going with such a fluid line-up does risk exposing City on the counter. A more conventional approach would be for Savinho or Oscar Bobb to start on the right wing and look to target Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson.
Regardless of whether Guardiola picks Cherki or a winger, City have most of their starting positions locked in. It is a huge difference compared to their two meetings with Liverpool last season — 2-0 defeats in November and February that almost bookmarked their crisis period — when Guardiola only started three of the same players in both games. Incredibly, not a single player started in the same position, showing just how little consistency the outgoing champions had in that period.
Andy Jones: For last season’s trip to the Etihad, in February, Slot switched to a 4-2-4, using Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai as twin No 10s. It was a rare deviation away from his favoured 4-2-3-1 and footballing principles, as his side had only 34 per cent possession in the game.
Liverpool have taken positive steps forward in their past two games, winning both following a run of six defeats in seven. The return of the experienced Robertson at left-back and the reunion of the champions’ tried and tested midfield three — Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Szoboszlai — has helped them look like a cohesive unit with an identity again.
After beating Real Madrid 1-0 at Anfield in the Champions League on Tuesday, Slot spoke about avoiding defending in a mid-block against them. He wanted his side to press high or drop deep, and it was effective. The approach against City is likely to be similar, to avoid Haaland exploiting space in transition.
A call he has to make is whether he sticks with the 4-2-3-1 formation with summer signing Hugo Ekitike leading the line or tries to replicate last season’s plan. It would be a decision of either Cody Gakpo or Florian Wirtz on the left in the 4-2-3-1, with the latter’s best game for his new club coming in a free role from that side against Madrid. Wirtz would be the most likely candidate to partner Szoboszlai in the No 10 positions, with Ekitike or Gakpo operating from the left.
Which player can make the difference?
Campbell: I won’t bore you by saying Haaland, as we all know how decisive he is with his 13 Premier League goals already this season.
Cherki could be the man who finds the magic pass, even if he does it after coming off the bench. The France midfielder signed from Lyon in the summer has been eased into his Premier League career after a two-month injury layoff, with Guardiola using him mostly as an impact substitute since returning to action in mid-October.
With a combined six goals and assists in just 280 minutes for City across all competitions, he has shown how devastating he can be when the game opens up late. If the score is tight, I would not be surprised if he comes up with the pass or finish that edges today’s match for City.
Jones: The obvious choice is Mohamed Salah. He’s always the answer. His two most recent performances have been much more like the forward who has been so consistent for Liverpool over the years. When he’s playing with confidence and his team-mates are getting him the ball in good areas, he will always be the difference-maker.
After a slow start to the season, Mohamed Salah scored against Aston Villa last weekend (Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Salah aside, a lot comes down to selection decisions.
Ekitike could cause City problems with his ability to stretch the play and ball-carrying qualities. It is stylistically a game that should be more suited to Wirtz’s game than the majority of Premier League teams he has faced.
The defining image of this exact fixture back in February was Szoboszlai lying face-down on the pitch at full time of Liverpool’s 2-0 away win, utterly spent. He has been the club’s player of the season so far and the heartbeat of everything good that Liverpool do.
Which opposition player poses the biggest threat?
Campbell: You can’t not pick Salah, especially as he will be up against teenage left-back Nico O’Reilly in what will be one of the latter’s toughest tests yet. The 19-year-old has made the position his own since stepping in to replace an injured Rayan Ait-Nouri in September and his play has earned him another England call-up this month. He has added to City’s attacking variety by inverting but will need to ensure he gets the balance right against Salah, who’ll look to hang out wide and take advantage on the break.
I still have some concerns about City defensively as, although they are much improved in that regard compared to last season, they are still going through periods in the game in which they drop off steeply. If they overcommit and are caught on the counter, Liverpool have the personnel to hurt them. Szoboszlai has been excellent and has the shooting range to punish City, so they will need to ensure he is tracked as he enters the final third.
Jones: If Haaland isn’t my choice here, there should be serious consideration at The Athletic about sacking me. He is City’s goal threat (nobody else has scored more than once for them in the league so far) and has been in sensational form. He is inevitable in front of goal, and now looks to have added more responsibility and maturity to his performances.
Behind him, Liverpool need to be wary of Foden, who is beginning to again look like the player who was central to City’s 2023-24 title win. They have a variety of attackers with different skill sets — Conor Bradley will need to replicate his midweek performance against Vinicius Junior if he faces Doku, who had 11 successful dribbles in the teams’ previous meeting at the Etihad when he was head-to-head with Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Phil Foden has been in sparkling form this season (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
What’s your team’s greatest strength this season? And greatest weakness?
Campbell: Their ability to maximise Haaland’s strengths. Last season, it was not uncommon to see him completely shut out of a game, but in this one City have an adaptability that makes them a threat against both low blocks and teams who try to press them.
Their weakness is an inability to maintain a consistent intensity throughout an entire game. City have yet to fully dominate a match, which is admittedly becoming harder in the Premier League, but there are periods when they lose control and the fragility of last season starts to sneak in again.
Jones: Liverpool’s season has been so volatile that it’s difficult to point to their biggest strength. Mentality and late goals defined their seven-game winning run to start the campaign but there were flaws in those performances and they were exposed further in defeats.
The strength of the past two games has been the midfield three looking as good as they did last season. There were fires that needed putting out across the team and having Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai in form has helped extinguish a number of them.
Just hearing ‘set piece’ sends a shiver down Liverpool supporters’ spines. It has dominated Arne Slot’s press conferences, and while his team have excelled in Europe, they have been undone by them repeatedly domestically. While those fans will be delighted to learn that City are the only side who have not scored from a set piece in the Premier League this season, it’s concerning that they may be due one.
If it’s not set pieces Slot is talking about, it’s been long balls and low blocks. He has admitted his side are yet to figure out how to be successful against such tactics. Though it is unlikely Guardiola will adopt this sort of approach today, City did so when leading 1-0 at Arsenal in September, and they have been dangerous when going direct to Haaland and releasing him in behind.
Your predicted scoreline and why?
Campbell: City have so many different ways of hurting opponents, and also the best player in the league at finishing off the chances they create. Haaland has taken his all-round game to another level this season, and it is hard to see him not scoring at least once in every game he plays. I’m sure both teams will score in this one, but City have the adaptability and bench options to edge it. Prediction: 2-1 home win.
Jones: Liverpool haven’t lost four away Premier League games in a row since 2012, and I’m backing them to avoid that. However, their record at the Etihad makes for tough reading. Last year’s win was an exception, and City are much improved from the team we watched that day. Prediction: a 2-2 draw.