SURRENDER Amorim coy as Barry is linked
Mac Allister also crucial
THAT’S THE SHOT: Mo Salah blazes a shot over the bar against Brighton before eventually finding the back of the net win them all — and hopefully we will do that.”
City host Aston Villa tomorrow, the last team to beat them in the league back in December.
But Akanji is expecting a different outcome this time.
Place
“A lot of time has passed, and we’re in a different place,” said the Swiss international.
“We play at home now. Like most of the teams, we play differently at home than we play away.
“Hopefully, we can have a the decisive moment when you have to finish the biggest chance we had, that makes a real goalscorer so I’m absolutely happy with everything. “He could play 90-something minutes and now we just have to keep going.”
A fully-fit Salah (31) is priceless for Liverpool as they enter the final lap in the title race with nine games to go, with a twopoint lead over Arsenal and (right) dominant game, not like we had there because I think Villa deserved to win. We didn’t do a good game.
“Hopefully, we can change it and get the three points.”
City have now failed to beat any of the top five in the league this season and still have a rearranged trip to Tottenham to deal with.
But City also face five teams in the bottom half of the table in the run-in.
And Akanji is refusing to panic in the wake of the stalemate with Arsenal, despite believing rivals might have started working three over Manchester City.
Liverpool have only held this kind of advantage at this stage of the season once before under Klopp, that was in 2020, when they walked the league, and it could be key.
Crucial
Also crucial is Alexis Mac Allister’s form and the Argentinian World Cup winner set up Salah’s decisive strike with a perfect, incisive pass.
He richly deserved to be named man of the match against his former club Brighton and is enjoying a purple patch.
Mac Allister (25) has three goals and three assists from his more advanced midfield role in his last five out how to deal with the champions by employing a safety first approach.
He added: “We know why a lot of goals didn’t happen, because they (Arsenal) played really defensively.
Cost
“In the end, one mistake can cost you (opposing teams) a goal and you have to chase the opponent and try to score.
“That’s probably why. There are a lot of videos for the other team on us, and they try to minimise the mistakes.” games and Conor Bradley says he is a “joy” to play alongside.
“He’s just an unbelievable footballer,” said the Northern Ireland star. “I’ve never seen someone retain the ball so well. He’s so calm on the ball and he’s so composed.
And Mac Allister himself has emphasised the need to keep their focus down the home straight.
This is the first time a Liverpool side under Klopp has led a tight title race, with their 2019/20 triumph a runaway success that saw them streak 22 points clear after 29 games.
But in their two titanic battles with City for top spot, in 2019 and 2022, it was Pep Guardiola’s side who had their noses just in front.
“We need to go game by game,” said Mac Allister. “We need to focus on ourselves and not on other teams.
“The team is there, we want to win trophies because we want to make it special as well for Jurgen as well.
“We are in a good way and we want to keep it like that.”
Mac Allister is confident there is the right mentality in the team to stay ahead.
He believes they showed it against Brighton, as they didn’t panic when going behind to an early goal and ran out 2-1 winners.
Calm
“In the first 15-20 minutes you could see maybe the fans were in a little bit of a rush, but we kept calm and did the things we had to do, we kept the ball and kept playing,” said Mac Allister.
“That mentality will help us. “At the same time, I would rather we didn’t start the game by losing, but that’s part of football.”
UNAI EMERY has warned Aston Villa must “focus” as they prepare for a stern test of their top-four credentials at Manchester City tomorrow.
Villa remain fourth, three points ahead of Tottenham, following Saturday’s 2-0 win over Wolves — but the Londoners still have a game in hand.
With just eight games to go, a Champions League spot now looks within tantalising reach but boss Emery insists they cannot afford to look too far ahead, especially with their squad at full stretch.
John McGinn will again be
RUBEN Amorim has laughed off questions regarding his future — with Sporting Lisbon reportedly considering a move for Anthony Barry.
The Portuguese has emerged as a top target for the Reds to replace Jurgen Klopp.
Their search for a new manager took a fresh turn after Xabi Alonso announced he would be staying at Bayer Leverkusen.
With rumours swirling around Amorim’s future, The Times claimed Bayern Munich’s former Ireland assistant manager
Barry is being considered as a possible successor.
News
Barry is Thomas Tuchel’s number two at the Bundesliga outfit.
When asked if he was aware of the news about Barry amid Liverpool’s interest, Amorim (inset) said: “The only thing that bothers me is that the club already have a replacement for me.
“But even today, I told Hugo Viana (sporting director) to stay calm, it’s not quite like that. That was the one thing that caught my eye.”
On whether rumours of his future have had an impact in the dressing room, Amorim added: “No, because this is also part of the players’ lives.” suspended for the trip to the champions, whom Villa beat in the reverse fixture while Matty Cash (hamstring) is out and Jacob Ramsey (foot) a doubt.
Games
Emery (right) said: “We are 30 games in and we have 59 points.
“Now we are going to focus on the next match on Wednesday against
Manchester City.”