MY ACCOUNT
Liverpool will attempt to stop Manchester City from disappearing over the Premier League horizon when they host the team that pipped them to the 2021-22 title on Sunday afternoon, kick-off at 4.30pm.
Jurgen Klopp hopes his side’s 7-1 Champions League win at Ibrox has changed the mood music around the 10th-placed Reds.
It was important to re-establish momentum after the fallout from last weekend’s 3-2 loss at Arsenal, in which defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip sustained injuries.
City’s six-game winning run came to an end in Copenhagen on Tuesday where in-form striker Erling Haaland was not called upon from the bench.
Klopp does not want his team to focus too heavily on stopping the Norwegian, who has scored 20 times this season, including 15 in the Premier League, because City have too many threats elsewhere.
Team news
Matip, Alexander-Arnold, Arthur Melo, Luis Diaz, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have all been ruled out for Liverpool, but Curtis Jones has a chance of featuring off the bench.
Andy Robertson is fully fit and ready to replace Kostas Tsimikas at left-back, with Joe Gomez set to continue on the opposite side of Klopp’s back four.
A return to the German’s favoured 4-3-3 formation would see Jordan Henderson, Thiago Alcantara, Harvey Elliott and Fabinho competing for three slots in midfield while Roberto Firmino could be the fall guy if, as expected, Mohamed Salah returns to the side up front.
City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Haaland will be fine to lead the line after being rested as a precaution in midweek.
But John Stones, Kalvin Phillips and Kyle Walker are not available to return yet.
Aymeric Laporte would return to bench duty if Guardiola restores the same back four that shut Southampton out last week with Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake returning alongside Manuel Akanji and Joao Cancelo.
Phil Foden, who signed a new long-term contract this week, and Bernardo Silva are set to be recalled in midfield, which will probably squeeze Ilkay Gundogan down to the bench.
Jack Grealish will almost certainly make way too with Kevin de Bruyne aligned behind Haaland and Riyad Mahrez retained on the left-hand side of City’s attack.
The stats
Salah scored the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history after coming off the bench against Rangers — timed at six minutes and 12 seconds from the first goal to the third hitting the back of the net.
The Egyptian has now scored more goals for Liverpool than Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres combined (164) in eight fewer appearances (267).
Haaland’s close-range strike against Southampton last weekend saw every single City player — including Ederson — touch the ball in the joint-longest passing sequence leading to a goal in the Premier League so far this season (21 passes).
The Norwegian became only the second player in the club’s history to score in seven consecutive Premier League appearances, equalling Sergio Aguero’s run in 2019.
Haaland also became the quickest player in Premier League history to reach 15 goals — improving on Andy Cole’s previous record by six matches.
Prediction
The duel between last season’s 23-goal joint-Golden Boot winner Salah and current Premier League leading marksman Haaland will be one of the keys to the game with both sides set up to create chances for their dynamic finishers.
Salah’s return to form at Ibrox after what has been, by his standards, a lean start to the campaign with no goal in his last five league appearances, is a good sign for the Reds.
City’s defence has been unchallenged by recent opponents, but Liverpool’s vertical passing style has always troubled Guardiola’s side and it would be no surprise to see Salah, who has scored seven goals in his last six appearances for club and country, get on the scoresheet again.
The Egyptian has scored in each of Liverpool’s last three home league games against City and is attractively priced at 2/1 anytime to register on Sunday.
