Previewing Liverpool v Manchester City

Manchester City travel to Liverpool on Sunday in the Premier League in a game they are widely expected to lose.

It is not often that Manchester City appear as the underdogs, but that is exactly the position we find ourselves in, going into this game at Anfield.

Despite being the reigning Champions, City are currently significantly behind in the title race and Liverpool are already annointed winners by the press. It may be only early in November but many pundits would have you believe the rest of the season is little more than a formality.

The fawning coverage of Liverpool should simply serve for City to use as a motivation tool. Spurring us on to rise above our current performances.

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You see, putting the media love in to one side, the truth is that City’s season has been beset with an abnormal injury list and consequently we are not yet at our best. It will likely require the best performance of the season to come away with a positive result from Anfield. And we do not appear to be in the form to deliver that kind of performance.

It is clear that City will need to raise their game, and if takes anger and a siege mentality to achieve that than so be it.

Liverpool are also not in the best run of form, but at least most of their star players are fit. That, coupled with our poor record at Anfield – just two wins since 1981 – suggests that expectations amongst City fans should not be too high.

The City injury list is almost paralysing. The loss of Ederson is as big a blow as any. Coupled with missing David Silva, Rodrigo, Oleks Zinchenko, Leroy Sane and Aymeric Laporte, the gaps in our side are significant.

Yet, no one should ever write us off. Adversity has defined our beloved City for as long as I can remember. Just this last week we saw something of the old typical city return.

Against Atalanta, we somehow snatched a draw from a game we should have won and even fielded a full back in goal. Wouldn’t it also by typical City to go to Anfield with a depleted side and smash them?

Last season at Anfield we gained a draw, but because we spurned a last minute penalty when Riyad Mahrez missed, it actually felt like a defeat. This year I doubt the game will be that close.

I have a feeling there will be a big result on the day, one way or another. Whether it is aided by the failure of VAR to address the serial diving of Mane and Salah or the random imposition of red cards for tactical fouling, I cannot say. Let us just pray we are on the right side of a result.

Whilst a defeat for City does not kill our title chances, it puts them firmly in the hands of Liverpool. They would need to mess up big time. A loss for Liverpool though could be devastating to them, scarring their confidence and puncturing their belief.

If we lost, we would just shrug it off. We are used to losing.

Predicting the City line up is a fools game for this match but I am contractually obliged to give it a go! I suspect Pep will spring a surprise.

I assume we will notionally line up in a 4-3-3, with players dropping deep. I suspect we will be trying to limit the progress of the Liverpool full backs so believe Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Benjamin Mendy and Kyle Walker will be deployed to compensate.

Claudio Bravo will start in goal and I believe John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi will be in central defence. This allows Fernandinho to play defensive midfield with Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne forming the rest of the midfield.

Up front will be Sergio Aguero, although in many ways this game is more suited to the pressing of Gabriel Jesus. I just cannot see Jesus starting given Aguero was on the bench in mid week.

So all eyes will be on Anfield. Let us just hope for a performance which we can use as a stepping stone to the many games which are remaining. Come on City!