Pep Guardiola picks out five Liverpool players his side must watch out for
As Manchester City brace for their top-of-the-table clash with Liverpool, coach Pep Guardiola couldn’t help but shower praise on the Reds, picking out five key players who he believes could pose a substantial threat to his team this Saturday.
Speaking ahead of the game at the Etihad, the Spaniard explained the immensity of the tactical challenge posed by any team managed by his long-term adversary, Jurgen Klopp.
“We’re old friends, know each other quite well,” he said, reflecting on their battles over the years, including when they locked horns as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund coach, respectively.
“Time goes forward, eight or nine years, not the same players – they have Trent Alexander-Arnold inside or outside – but the idea is similar.”
QUICK TRANSITIONS
Guardiola praised the speed at which Klopp’s teams transition from defence to attack and singled out Liverpool’s potent attacking options, highlighting five players in the current side that could cause his team problems on Saturday.
“We have a lot of space in behind,” he explained, “and they have incredible runs with [Luis] Diaz, with Darwin Nunez, with [Mohamed] Salah of course, and now with [Dominik] Szoboszlai and [Ryan] Gravenberch.”
The quintet’s blistering pace and ability to exploit spaces should ensure his team are kept on their toes, he explained: “For them [it’s] good because of the transitions.”
“They are a fantastic team, fantastic legs. A top side, no doubt.”
AN ENDURING RIVALRY
Guardiola went on to highlight the enduring relationship between the two sides, comparable to the Barcelona-Real Madrid rivalry, he said, acknowledging Liverpool’s consistent presence as City’s most formidable rival in recent years.
“The last decade they’ve been our best rivals and that’s the reality, and still we are there – that’s a big compliment that after many years we are still there,” he said.
The City boss then delved into the impact his opposite number has had on his own managerial growth.
“Absolutely, absolutely [Klopp has made me a better manager],” Guardiola admitted. “He helped me reflect on a lot of the things. The problems that we face. Absolutely.”
“[We’ve] always been big rivals, good games for both sides, positive approach to the games and always attractive games,” he added, hinting at an intense battle to come on Saturday lunchtime.
How the tactical battle eventually pans out at the Etihad will certainly be intriguing.
Manchester City vs Liverpool – Predictions
Can you hear that? That’s the sound of millions of football fans across the country breathing a huge sigh of relief. Yes, no more international football until next March!
The Premier League returns after yet another monotonous international break and it certainly starts with a bang for Liverpool supporters.
The Reds travel to Manchester City in the ludicrously-timed early Saturday kick-off, the sternest test of Liverpool’s credentials this season by quite some distance.
Jurgen Klopp’s side haven’t enjoyed much success at the Etihad in recent years, failing to win at Man City in the Premier League since 2015. Martin Skrtel scored that day, while Eliaquim Mangala put in his own net, so times have certainly changed.
The Reds got back to winning ways before the international break, blitzing Brentford at Anfield 3-0. Saturday will be a different challenge altogether, but confidence levels should be high with the Reds sat second in the league table.
With the nerves jangling ahead of the weekend, here is how Anfield Watch’s writers think Man City vs Liverpool might go down.
Sam McGuire: Dare I say there will be goals in this game?
There should be. Erling Haaland (13) is the top goalscorer in the Premier League while Mohamed Salah (10) isn’t far behind. City lead the way for goals scored in the English top-flight this term with (32) and only Aston Villa (29) have more goals than the Reds (27).
Yet I have a strange feeling Pep Guardiola will look to make this game as boring as possible following the 4-4 draw with Chelsea in their last Premier League outing. He will want to make sure that was an extreme outlier and this could well see City adopt more of a conservative approach in a bid to control the space and limit the damage that the likes of Darwin Nunez, Mo Salah, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota can do.
I think it’ll be an odd-goal win, I’m just not sure who will be claiming the three points.
Manchester City 1-2 Liverpool
Ewan Ross-Murray: This game really feels like a battle between head and heart.
Head: Manchester City are just too good. Liverpool haven’t beaten the current Premier League champions at the Etihad since 2018, going all the way back to 2015 in the Premier League. With all their attacking muscle and their inexplicable inability to lose at home, it’ll just be too tough to overcome Pep Guardiola’s side on Saturday.
Heart: We currently boast the joint best defence in the Premier League and easily have one of the best attacking units in the division. Virgil van Dijk is back to his best. Dominik Szoboszlai is a god amongst mere mortals. Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah will score two each. We’re going to batter them!
Let’s go somewhere in between head and heart, shall we?
Manchester City 2-2 Liverpool
Alex Caple: It’s difficult to predict a win here as we haven’t seen one in the league for so long.
At the same time, this Liverpool team might be better suited to getting one than even the title-winning side.
Klopp’s got them defending so well, while there’s just an enormous amount of counter-attacking quality. Maybe it’s enough to cause real problems for City on their own patch.
Darwin’s in great form, Mo is in even better form…it’s easy to find optimism going forward. So I’ll go for a very narrow win here and say that there’s enough in the team to counter Pep’s passing game.
Manchester City 1-2 Liverpool
Andrew Headspeeth: Not to be overly dramatic about it but this could well be the defining game of Liverpool’s Premier League season.
A win at the Etihad – what would be the first time since 2015 – promotes the Reds from being seen as having an under-the-radar good start to being bonafide title contenders again.
Though City’s injury list is (unsurprisingly) nowhere near as long as it looked like it might be, Pep Guardiola’s side are more vulnerable than they have been in previous iterations of this fixture.
They are still City though and this is still the early Saturday kick-off after an international break. A win would be as enormous as it would be unexpected.
Manchester City 2-2 Liverpool
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