Liverpool must win at Man City to prove they’re contenders

Are Liverpool really ready to reclaim the Premier League crown they won by 18 points in the dark days of COVID in 2020? Saturday’s ‘summit conference’ against leaders Manchester City is the litmus test of whether they are contenders or pretenders.

Jurgen Klopp’s “mentality monsters” turned into dwarves last season when they finished fifth, but the team the manager dubbed “Liverpool Mark 2.0” has been rebuilt into a dangerous team, scoring in every game this season. City’s thrilling 4-4 ​​draw at Chelsea last time out saw Liverpool move within a point of the top with a 3-0 win over Brentford, and that’s as close as they’ve been all season season, enough to get the pulse racing in the red half of Merseyside.

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This Stamford Bridge blockbuster highlighted once again how City, for all their class and aura of invincibility, can be vulnerable if opposing teams are bold enough and good enough to attack them. Remember how Wolves beat them at Molineux in September by crowding the half-spaces and relying on quick counters from Pedro Neto and Matheus Cunha to claim a surprise 2-1 victory? Could this be the model for Liverpool? Arsenal also managed to beat the European champions, albeit in a closer match in which City for once looked completely helpless.

It’s a different Liverpool to the title-winning team, who benefited greatly from the number of goals created by superb raids and deliveries from full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, for the legendary striking trio of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio. Mane.

Of course, Salah is still in mortal form. His two goals against Brentford on the final day took him to 200 in his English career. But Mané and Firmino were replaced by Darwin Núñez, Luis Díaz, Diogo Jota (four goals in his last five league matches) and the stylish Dutch player Cody Gakpo, who can also score a goal. change in midfield.

The speed of Nunez, who scored in Uruguay’s fine victory in Argentina, could pose a particular threat to the Etihad. It is in the engine room that this reinvented Liverpool has changed the most. The old guard of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Gini Wijnaldum provided a strong, hard-working, box-to-box unit as their team won the title, with Henderson being voted Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers Association, a coveted award dating back to Stanley Matthews in 1948.

The latest midfield model boasts new signings Alexis Mac Allister, a visionary passer during Argentina’s World Cup victory, and Dominik Szoboszlai, the poster boy of Hungarian football who amazed his colleagues with his fitness and his talent during a stellar start to his career at Anfield. Ryan Gravenberch, cold at Bayern Munich, is also eye-catching. When everyone is fit, Klopp can also call on the veteran Thiago, the underrated Curtis Jones, the Japanese Wataru Endo, the promising Harvey Elliott and Stefan Bajcetic, who made such a good impression last season. It’s a real embarrassment of riches in one key area.

It could be argued that this revolutionized midfield has made Klopp’s team smarter, more astute and creative, and less dependent on quick raids from the two full-backs. On the other hand, does the new brigade offer the same shield as the rear four? Probably not.

Mac Allister has often been asked to play the starting No.6 role, which is a change from the more advanced pace he previously occupied during his career. Could he be left on the bench at City after playing and flying out after the huge Brazil-Argentina clash just three days before the mission to the Etihad? Endo, a natural defensive midfielder, could have the critical task of sitting up front and protecting the back four.

Liverpool’s Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson and City’s Argentinian Julián Álvarez also return from the big South American clash. Indeed, 28 players from both teams have been on international duty, as this Saturday noon-12:30 kick-off is hardly ideal for either manager (don’t get Jurgen Klopp started on that). Selections could well be influenced by who is deemed fit enough and fresh enough to play. City’s Erling Haaland and Éderson have missed recent international matches due to injuries, but it would be no surprise if they were all declared fit for such a key game. (Rodri was also reported to be injured, but he appeared in Spain’s second game after the break.)

To pass this great test of their credentials, Liverpool must do what no other team has managed at the Etihad this calendar year: avoid defeat. City have dismissed all comers on their pitch since Everton gained a valuable point there on New Year’s Eve. That makes 22 successive home victories.

The fixture became huge and fiery. Liverpool have not won at City in the Premier League since a 4-1 triumph in 2015, just a month after Klopp’s appointment. At the time, many said it was the day he “really arrived”, but it was so long ago that Martin Skrtel was among the goalscorers and Samir Nasri and Jesús Navas were part of a City team managed by Manuel Pellegrini.

Since then the results of City v Liverpool Championship matches at the Etihad are as follows (City score first) 5-0, 1-1, 2-1, 4-0, 1-1, 2-1 and 4 – 1 last season. You can always say that was then, this is now and all trends are there to be broken, but these results underline how difficult it is to break through at Manchester City. Brentford were the last team to do so, bypassing City’s press with long balls and conceding two goals from Ivan Toney.

Klopp will know that his side, who have a 100% record at Anfield, need to improve away from home, where they have not often impressed, particularly during the recent trip to Luton where only a late equalizer from Luis Diaz saved their blushes. The defense also looked shaky in the 2-2 draw at Brighton.

So it might come down to this: is this new Liverpool tough enough to withstand the kind of attacking threat that City produce most weeks at home? Or can Liverpool find holes in City’s defense, like Chelsea did a fortnight ago?

The answers to these two questions will tell us a lot about whether “Liverpool Mark 2” can repeat the exploits of their original stars.