Liverpool’s next Premier League game is against Manchester City, and there is even more at stake than usual, writes Ian Doyle.
Anfield may still be under construction, but it has served as a fortress for Liverpool this season.
The Reds’ 3-0 Premier League victory over Brentford on Sunday was their ninth consecutive home victory in all competitions, their best start to a season since the 1985/86 Double-winning team won their first 13 matches at Anfield. All of those victories were won by at least two goals, matching the club record for a similar run set from May to October 1980.
That’s some impressive work. The sequence, however, pales in comparison to what has been going on at Manchester City on the other end of the East Lancs Road.
Pep Guardiola’s team has won every home game this season, a streak of 23 victories in which they have scored 76 goals and conceded only 11 times. They have scored 11 goals in their last three games at the Etihad, while the last team to stop them was Everton, who earned a 1-1 draw on New Year’s Eve last year.
They are now one victory away from tying Sunderland’s record for the longest run of home victories in English football history, which was set in 1891 and 1892.
And who will be City’s next opponents at the Etihad on Saturday? Liverpool.
The fact that Guardiola’s men were able to accomplish such a feat against their greatest rivals adds even more spice to an event that has rarely failed to deliver. However, the Reds are more than just potential party poopers; a positive result would reaffirm their new-look side as genuine title contenders.
It would also help to alleviate some of the concerns about Liverpool’s away form. While the two games they have lost out of nine on the road this season have been marred by VAR controversy, Jurgen Klopp’s side has only looked convincing at times, even if the results have been impressive, as evidenced by draws at Chelsea and Brighton and wins at Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Etihad will be the ultimate barometer of Liverpool’s ability on the road and, as with most visiting clubs over the last decade, it hasn’t been a happy hunting ground. In nine games at City since Guardiola took over, the Reds have won only once – the Champions League quarter-final second leg in April 2018. And while Liverpool have failed to score only twice in that period, their last clean sheet at the Etihad was almost 12 years ago.
Although no team has conceded fewer times in the Premier League than Klopp’s men this season, eight of those 10 have come in their six away games. And only Aston Villa are averaging more home goals per game this season than City in the top flight.
Klopp has not been averse to throwing a curveball for Guardiola to deal with in this fixture. In April’s 4-1 defeat, he picked a team that had never before played together and didn’t ever again, while post-World Cup absences meant the same applied to the 3-2 League Cup loss last December.
In November 2020, the Reds boss caught City off-guard – for a short time, anyway – by playing four forwards, and in the Champions League win in 2018 started with Gini Wijnaldum in defensive midfield and played James Milner further upfield in the absence of Jordan Henderson.
Indeed, the number six role will again be pivotal, as it has been for much of the campaign as Klopp has grappled with an unexpected summer in which Fabinho and Henderson followed Milner through the Anfield exit.
Alexis Mac Allister is back after suspension and has started all bar two Premier League games as the defensive midfielder this term, and will be favourite to continue in the position.
The Argentine experienced a mixed bag playing for Brighton against City. Last season, he played in a double pivot alongside Moises Caicedo in the Seagulls’ 3-1 loss at the Etihad and was only a substitute in the 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture. He was employed further upfield in a 3-0 away loss the previous campaign and netted a late consolation from the bench in a 4-1 home defeat. And in 2020/21 he was again in an attacking role when starting both a 3-2 home win and 1-0 away loss.
With Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic both still sidelined, the only other player to have started a match in defensive midfield for Liverpool this season is Wataru Endo, who made only a second Premier League start at the weekend. It would be a significant increase in level and responsibility should the Japanese be given the nod.
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One alternative could be for Liverpool to employ a 4-2-3-1 formation with Mac Allister and one other, such as Endo, in a deeper role. The Reds switched to a 4-4-2 to turn the game around at Wolves in September with Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones central, but not since January have they wavered from starting 4-3-3 in the Premier League.
And even by Klopp’s standards, it would be a major surprise if Jones – should he be back fit – or Trent Alexander-Arnold reprise their pre-season by playing in defensive midfield, given the disruption it could cause elsewhere in the team.
There will be discussion about who should play on the left side of the defense and attack, as well as the usual concerns about availability following the international break. But the biggest challenge for Klopp at City will be the same as it has been all season – the number six spot.
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