Man City express safety fears ahead of key clash
Manchester City have sought assurances from Liverpool about security arrangements for Monday’s (NZ time) top-of-thetable clash at Anfield after raising concerns about posters promising another hostile ‘‘coach greeting’’ for Pep Guardiola and his players.
City’s team bus came under attack on its way into Anfield for the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal against Liverpool last year. Bottles, bricks and flares were hurled at the coach, which caused thousands of pounds of damage and forced City to find a replacement to take them home.
Guardiola complained about the lack of protection and City were bemused that no arrests followed.
Although last season’s Premier League meeting at Anfield passed without incident, and similar posters did the rounds before that 0-0 draw, City are leaving nothing to chance and are understood to have been in contact with Liverpool about the posters as part of the liaising process.
Posters have been circulating on social media urging fans to line the streets around Anfield and bring ‘‘pyro, pints, flags and banners’’ to make the atmosphere ‘‘like a European night’’. Like last season, City are expected to keep their route to Anfield a secret in an attempt to ensure they arrive unscathed for a game they feel they must win as they attempt to halve Liverpool’s sixpoint lead at the top.
■ 9am, Norwich v Watford
■ 1.30am, Chelsea v Watford; 4pm, Burnley v West Ham, Newcastle v Bournemouth, Southampton v Everton, Tottentham v Sheffield United; 6.30am, Leicester v Arsenal.
■ 3am, Manchester United v Brighton, Wolves v Aston Villa; 5.30am, Liverpool v Manchester City.
Merseyside Police’s decision to publicise City’s bus route compounded problems before that infamous Champions League greeting.
Officers are understood to be aware of the posters and have no plans to publicise any bus route.
They are not anticipating problems and work closely with Liverpool around match-day security. In the poster – headed ‘‘coach greeting’’ – Liverpool fans have been asked to line the streets from the King Harry Pub all the way up Anfield Road to the ground.
City have not won at Anfield since 2003 and the challenge could be made increasingly difficult if Ederson is not passed fit.
The champions’ first-choice goalkeeper was forced off at halftime with a thigh problem in the 1-1 draw at Atalanta in Milan on Thursday.
Guardiola is already without his best defender, Aymeric Laporte, winger Leroy Sane and left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko and has doubts over midfielders David Silva and Rodri, while Ederson’s potential absence would force him to start in goal with Claudio Bravo.
Bravo was sent off just 36 minutes after replacing Ederson against Atalanta when he sped out of the penalty area and flung himself at Josip Ilicic.
There will certainly be no hiding place on Monday, but Kevin De Bruyne has insisted these are the occasions for which big players live and that a whitehot atmosphere should be embraced.
‘‘I prefer to play in that than when there is nobody,’’ the City midfielder said.
‘‘Professionals want to play in front of 50, 60, 70, 80,000 people. You train all your life to get to the big stages. I want to compete for titles and to be the best, and to do that you have to win against the best.’’
Guardiola – heavily linked with the Juventus job over the past year – has admitted he would be interested in managing in Italy in the future.
‘‘Why not, it was a pleasure as a player, with Capello and the great Mazzone,’’ said Guardiola, who played for Brescia and Roma.
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