Liverpool are set to take on their biggest rivals for Premier League supremacy, Manchester City this Sunday afternoon at 16:30 PM BST. City's visit to Anfield comes on the heels of the Reds smashing Rangers 7-1 Wednesday night in the Champions League.
This match is going to be pivotal for Liverpool's 2022/23 Premier League season. The Reds come into this match a full 13 points behind Manchester City. They need these 3 points to begin to close the gap between them and the top of the table.
Manchester City find themselves in an unfamiliar position to start the week. They are currently 2nd behind Arsenal by one point. If we know anything about Pep Guardiola's City, that isn't good enough and they'll be out to get back to the top of the table.
Sunday's match is Liverpool's first in the Premier League since last weekend's thrilling defeat at Arsenal. We are hard pressed to find two more difficult back-to back matches in the Reds' Premier League schedule this year.
Talking Points for Week 9
In his Friday press conference, Jürgen Klopp talked about taking the mood and confidence from the Champions League success mid-week and applying it to Sunday's match. The team's mood and have confidence have been questioned after nearly every Premier League match this season.
Sunday would be the perfect time to finally take what has been working in the Champions League and apply it to the EPL. That is easier said that done as Manchester City are a very different (and much better) team than Rangers.
Liverpool need to start making up ground in the Premier League, now. If they still want to be in the conversation for the Premier League title, Sunday's match against Manchester City is a must win. They need to hold City to a draw in the very least if they want to start clawing their way back into the European places.
It was certainly good to see Andy Robertson back on the field on Wednesday. The Scottish defender will no doubt be in the starting lineup tomorrow. The Liverpool defence will have a very different look from it's last Premier League match. And we think that will be a good thing.
With Luis Díaz definitely and Trent Alexander-Arnold likely unavailable for the match, the Reds' attack will have fewer options. That means the defense is going to have to be even tighter against the Manchester City goal scoring machine.
Liverpool will need to play much of the match on the front foot if they want to win. Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Núñez, Diogo Jota, and every other attack-minded player for that matter, will have to factor in to the Reds' offence if they are going to have a shot on Sunday.
Manchester City Are the Same Beast with A New Monster
Manchester City come to Anfield on Sunday a different team in terms of players but, very much the same in terms of performance. Pep Guardiola's team let Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Stirling both leave in the offseason. As we have all seen, they don't miss their goals even a little bit.
That is because City replaced those two prolific forwards with an unstoppable goal scoring monster in Erling Haaland. The Norwegian's arrival over the summer was heralded but, no one could have seen what would happen up until this point.
Haaland has scored 20 goals in all competitions, so far. 15 of those have come in 9 matches in the Premier League. He is on pace to smash the single season EPL goals record of 34 shared by Alan Shearer and Andrew Cole. Liverpool's defenders are going to have their hands full.
Beyond the Haaland goal explosion, Manchester City are still a great side with loads of talent. Unlike last week's opponent, City are still undefeated but the reason they are 2nd to Arsenal are draws. They have 2 draws to Arsenal's 1 loss which makes the one point difference.
Most recently, City beat Southampton 4-0 last week in the Premier League. 4 different Cityzens scored, including Haaland. Maybe more importantly for Liverpool is City's lackluster performance in Copenhagen on Tuesday.
City were held to a goalless draw against FC Copenhagen in the Champions League. Defender Sergio Gomez was sent off with a red card, and City experienced the total opposite of what Liverpool did in their Champions League match this week.
We talked about the importance of the Liverpool versus Manchester City matches in our season preview. While the narrative has changed a bit since then, in that Liverpool haven't been the side we thought they would be, this game remains important. City are still the team to beat.
LFC Globe Verdict
Liverpool versus Manchester City is still a massive match on the Premier League calender. Sunday's match will go a long way in deciding the top 4 for the Premier League this season. However, some of the lustre has been lost with the Reds' play in the league so far this season.
Haaland has been everything for City that we wanted Darwin Núñez to be for Liverpool out of the gate and more. This could be a great opportunity for Liverpool to show that they can still run with City, especially since it is at Anfield. Núñez should be keen to show the world he is as good as Haaland.
The problem is… He's not nearly as good as Haaland and neither are Liverpool, right now. I don't think this match is going to be pretty for the Reds. I think City leave Anfield with a 3-1 win and leave Liverpool's title hopes in tatters. I hope Liverpool prove me wrong.
