Pressure on Pep Guardiola and Man City after Liverpool find themselves in perfect position – Liverpool Echo

After navigating through the prickly maze that was October, Liverpool find themselves at opportunity’s door this weekend.

And in many ways, it is the same one they so firmly kicked in this time last year.

It was November 2019 when Jurgen Klopp‘s side met Manchester City in a game that despite the infancy of the season, was billed as crucial for the eventual destination of the Premier League title.

Victory for the table-topping Reds would be enough to send them eight points clear of Pep Guardiola’s men heading into an international break.

Twelve months on, those circumstances are again potentially awaiting the champions as they prepare to go toe-to-toe with City once more.

A fifth win in the last eight against Guardiola’s team this Sunday will once more open up a gap of eight points and preserve Liverpool’s status as league leaders heading into the break.

But while there are similarities to be found with that 3-1 win, the Reds are also confronted with some key differences.

While last November’s triumph put the Reds in a commanding position over City, their eight-point lead was earned after a dozen games had been played.

Time time around, City will only have played seven by Sunday evening and they host Klopp’s champions as opposed to playing at Anfield where their record is wretched.

Their form at home is good against Klopp’s Liverpool, particularly under Guardiola where they are yet to lose in the Premier League.

The Reds’ most recent visit to the Etihad was a miserable night, also.

Or, perhaps more accurately, it should have been had the 4-0 defeat not come just days after they were crowned Premier League champions.

The year previous was certainly more damaging, with City’s 2-1 win in January 2019 proving so pivotal to the eventual destination of the title a few months later.

“It looks like even you think it’s not a decider!” Klopp told the media on Friday.

And while such assertions are correct, the game will offer a useful barometer as to how the rest of this campaign might just pan out.

Once more, it is the country’s two best teams and the Premier League’s most high-profile managers colliding.

A defeat though, while not insignificant, will not derail Liverpool, even if it will slow the momentum that has been steadily built since that bizarre night at Aston Villa.

A loss for City, however, would surely have a longer lasting impact.

It would move their greatest threat further away in their quest to regain supremacy at the summit of English football.

After a year of seeing a rampant Reds tear away from them from to the point where they ended 18 points behind, to see Liverpool doing the same so early into this campaign could have many psychological ramifications for the challengers.

And while Guardiola’s men do still have the caveat of a game in hand to be played, any manager would tell you they would rather have the points on the board.

Put simply, the onus is on the hosts for Sunday’s all-star clash.

Liverpool, despite all the neutral bluster of how an unpredictable season could offer a surprise victor, are still the best side in the land.

Their stroll to last season’s title, one that saw them win it in record-quick time of just 31 games, curiously seems to have been quickly forgotten at times.

Perhaps it is the desire to see others challenge at the top?

Or the hope for more thoroughbreds in the race?

Maybe the anomaly of that 7-2 loss at Villa Park still hangs in the collective consciousness?

Or is it the absence of Virgil van Dijk that no longer sees Liverpool as the favourites for this Premier League title?

Whatever the reasons, a rocky period was expertly dealt with by Klopp and players as they picked up seven points from the last nine on offer, post-international break, to regain their top spot.

City will have their eyes on eventually holding that position again themselves, but will the doom of defeat outweigh the spoils of victory on Sunday?

It is almost the ideal position for Liverpool to find themselves in.