City under seige as Reds arrive
PREMIER LEAGUE Pressure on Guardiola’s side to respond against giantkillers Liverpool after Champions League debacle
Manchester City launch themselves into a foreboding run of fixtures at home to Liverpool on Sunday with Pep Guardiola under pressure to prove he has not lost his magic touch.
Dumped out of the Champions League by Monaco on Wednesday, City face a five-way scrap with Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United over the three spots in next season’s competition.
Liverpool’s visit precedes back-to-back trips to Arsenal and leaders Chelsea and having already seen his side lose at Anfield, Guardiola knows just how dangerous Juergen Klopp’s side can be.
“Klopp is a top coach,” the City manager told his prematch press conference, two days on from his side’s disjointed 3-1 loss to Monaco at Stade Louis II. “It’s an attacking side: win the ball and attack. He likes to attack in four, five, six seconds all the time.
“He’s a top trainer. I respect (him) a lot. Huge, talented players, English players and foreign players. I think it’s a really good team. A good test against one of the best teams in the Premier League.”
City go into the weekend third in the Premier League table, one point above fourth-placed Liverpool with a game in hand.
It is a measure of the extent to which Guardiola’s stock has fallen in England that Liverpool could become the first team to record a home-and-away double over a side he has managed.
In addition, City have already lost five times this season and Guardiola has never suffered six league defeats in the same campaign.
But while Liverpool will draw encouragement from their 1-0 win over City on New Year’s Eve, secured by an early Georginio Wijnaldum header, they remain beset by doubts themselves.
The victory against City left them six points below leaders Chelsea, but they have won just three of their nine matches since and continue to fluctuate between bewitching and bewildering. A dismal 3-1 defeat at Leicester City bridged impressive home wins over Tottenham exit from the Champions League would have left them demoralised. Having beaten Monaco 5-3 in the first leg, the tie was thought to be in City’s favour until Monaco managed a 3-1 win to their defence has to complement the efforts upfront. Since Vincent Kompany got injured and lost his verve, City have lacked solidity to maintain a remarkable run of form against the Premier League’s top teams. in 10 and Arsenal and they laboured to a 2-1 home victory over Burnley in their most recent outing.
Klopp enjoyed a good record against Guardiola when they were in charge of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively, but he says reports eliminate the English side on away goals. at the back in the absence of a commanding presence.
team like Liverpool, City defenders will have to be on their toes or they will be punished severely. of the Catalan’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
“I’ve heard about Pep Guardiola’s style and all that stuff, but it is real football and it is difficult to defend against them and a lot of teams have failed already.”
Whereas three of City’s five
Man City in the last four Premier League meetings between the sides. The last time City won a league game against the Reds was in August 2014 — a 3-1 verdict at the Etihad.
from last season saw Liverpool beat City 4-1 after taking a three goal lead within the first 30 minutes. City have looked out of sorts playing against the Reds recently, including their last meeting which ended 1-0 in Liverpool’s favour. Goals conceded defeats have come against other teams in the top six —- Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool — Klopp’s side have shown a particular aptitude for top-of-the-table clashes.
They are unbeaten in the nine league games they have played to has played four home matches in the Premier League against Liverpool and found the net on each occasion.
has scored four Premier league goals in five matches against
City. He hasn’t scored more goals against any other Premier League side. Man City won Drawn Liverpool won date against the other teams in the top six and have emerged victorious on five occasions.
City captain Vincent Kompany will hope to feature after overcoming a knee injury, having been left out of the squad for the trip to Monaco. Runaway leaders Chelsea continued