1 month ago
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Who: Manchester City vs Liverpool
What: English Premier League
Where: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
When: Sunday astatine 4:30pm (16:30 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll person each the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 13:30 GMT successful beforehand of our unrecorded substance commentary stream.
Games betwixt Manchester City and Liverpool person often been regarded arsenic cardinal battles successful Premier League rubric races successful caller seasons, but Sunday’s brushwood whitethorn simply constituent to which of the 2 clubs is champion equipped to effort to pursuit league leaders Arsenal.
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By the clip the weekend’s large crippled kicks disconnected astatine the Etihad Stadium, Arsenal – who sojourn surprise-package Sunderland connected Saturday – could beryllium 10 points wide of champions Liverpool and 9 up of Pep Guardiola’s City.
That script would summation the unit connected City and Liverpool, who caput into the past circular of fixtures earlier different planetary stoppage 2nd and 3rd respectively.
There are signs that some clubs are uncovering form. City person mislaid lone erstwhile successful their past 13 games successful each competitions and connected Wednesday pummelled Borussia Dortmund 4-1 successful the Champions League with Erling Haaland scoring his 18th nine extremity this play and a rejuvenated Phil Foden bagging a brace.
Liverpool person besides emerged from a tally of six defeats successful 7 matches successful each competitions to bushed Aston Villa and Real Madrid successful their past 2 games.
Guardiola ‘desperate to play against Liverpool’
City mislaid location and distant to the Reds past play arsenic they were dethroned arsenic champions, and City brag Pep Guardiola admitted helium was amazed astatine Liverpool’s stumbles this season.
“Of course, but sometimes it’s astir momentum,” Guardiola stated. “All the clubs are determination but Arsenal, who are much accordant than anyone.
“But the play is long, truthful we effort to beryllium determination and spot what happens. To beryllium hones,t I’m truthful excited and blessed to hole for Sunday. I’m hopeless to play against Liverpool.”
Guardiola connected the touchline during his side’s 4-1 triumph implicit Borussia Dortmund [Oli Scarff/AFP]Foden is ‘back’ warns City’s boss
The City and England guardant lit up the triumph implicit Dortmund, scoring doubly to registry his archetypal European goals this play and treble his tally successful each competitions.
City’s prima academy postgraduate struggled for overmuch of past season, opening up astir off-field issues and injuries that affected him, but the signs are that the 25-year-old is backmost to his best, having been the stand-out subordinate successful City’s Premier League-winning 2023/24 campaign.
“Phil is back,” Guardiola said. “How galore times person we seen Phil people these benignant of goals? We miss this a batch past play but this play I deliberation helium is going to assistance america a lot.”
Guardiola added, “He’s a peculiar subordinate [and] we request his goals and hopefully contiguous was the archetypal measurement to bash it. It’s important to person him for the big, large lucifer connected Sunday [against Liverpool].”
Foden grabbed a brace against Borussia Dortmund connected Wednesday [Carl Recine/Getty Images]Van Dijk says Liverpool indispensable physique from the back
Prior to a 2-0 triumph implicit Aston Villa connected Saturday, Liverpool had gone 10 matches without a cleanable sheet.
“It is casual to accidental present due to the fact that we won doubly successful a row. In a satellite of chaos you person to enactment calm and spot position of things,” skipper Virgil van Dijk said. “We each cognize however shot works – it tin alteration overnight.”
Liverpool look different immense trial of their rubric defence connected Sunday erstwhile Van Dijk faces Haaland, who has struck 26 times this play for nine and country.
“You tin spot astatine the infinitesimal Arsenal are flying, and it is down to cleanable sheets and not conceding chances,” added Van Dijk.
“We person the prime to wounded anyone connected the interruption – it starts with the defending. Today, you saw the hard work.
“We person to support going. Sunday is going to beryllium different hard one.”
Van Dijk celebrates arsenic Alexis Mac Allister, not pictured, scores against Real Madrid [Carl Recine/Getty Images]Slot looking guardant to ‘Clasico’ against City
Liverpool brag Arne Slot said helium was not amazed by his team’s instrumentality to signifier to triumph their past 2 games, but warned that playing astatine Manchester City would airs a acold much hard challenge.
“Our main absorption is connected consistency astatine the moment, arsenic you cognize we’ve mislaid a fewer games, overmuch much than we usually bash … We were accordant but we were consistently losing. That wasn’t the idea,” a laughing Slot told reporters up of Sunday’s clash.
“It wasn’t a astonishment for maine however the past 2 games went. It was adjuvant that the different squad did what we expected them to do,” helium added.
Slot said Guardiola’s City were his contiguous absorption alternatively than the league table.
“Similar to the ‘Clasico,’ these are the fewer games everyone is looking guardant to,” helium said.
“What I similar astir Pep Guardiola’s teams is that 10 retired of 10 times you get what you are hoping for – a large crippled of football, nary clip wasting oregon those kinds of things that I commencement to dislike much and much astir football,” Slot said.
Head-to-head
Liverpool boast by acold the amended triumph ratio from the 2 clubs’ 218 encounters, with the Reds winning 110 matches, City winning 60, and 58 ending arsenic draws.
The Reds’ league treble implicit City past twelvemonth included a 2-0 triumph astatine the Etihad successful February, courtesy of goals from Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai, that sent the eventual champions 11 points clear of City.
City’s past triumph implicit the Reds was a 4-1 thrashing astatine the Etihad successful April 2023, connected a tense time that included an evident onslaught by Liverpool fans connected the City squad autobus and Guardiola being accused of disrespectfully celebrating straight successful beforehand of Liverpool substitutes.
City’s squad news
Guardiola seems to person the luxury of a fully-fit squad to take from, with talismanic midfielder Rodri acceptable to travel into the squad aft recovering from wounded to apt signifier a double-pivot with Nico Gonzalez.
While left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri has recovered from injury, Nico O’Reilly has excelled successful his lack and whitethorn beryllium the 1 tasked with trying to shackle Salah.
City’s predicted starting lineup
Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Rodri, Gonzalez; Cherki, Foden, Doku; Haaland
Liverpool’s squad news
The Reds’ archetypal prime keeper Alisson Becker remains injured, but Liverpool person the awesome Giorgi Mamardashvili to trust connected betwixt the sticks instead.
Slot confirmed that grounds signing Alexander Isak whitethorn beryllium acceptable capable to marque the squad pursuing a groin occupation but helium whitethorn not beryllium risked, portion Curtis Jones is backmost successful grooming aft besides suffering a groin injury.
Conor Bradley enactment successful a sensational antiaircraft show against Real Madrid successful midweek and volition surely clasp his spot astatine right-back with Jeremie Frimpong ruled retired for different six weeks, portion Andy Robertson besides impressed astatine left-back and whitethorn commencement again arsenic caller signing Milos Kerkez continues to set to beingness astatine Liverpool.
Liverpool’s predicted starting lineup
Mamardashvili; Bradley, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Ekitike
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