ARE GOOD...BUT SO LUCKY TOO

accident by Sadio – and sometimes the referee gives a red card or just a yellow. “So, in that situation they were lucky. “Of course, it was not lucky that they then scored five goals, but we did a few things wrong where they could show their quality.

“Now we play them again without Coutinho and I think every top team is probably happy that he has left to join another team in another country.

“So that’s lucky for them again. That’s how it is. But we must not think a lot about it because we can’t control it.”

Wijnaldum was the match-winner when Liverpool beat City 1-0 at Anfield just over a year ago. It was the Manchester club’s fourth successive defeat on Liverpool soil and they are yet to win in 10 games since Sheikh Mansour’s takeover.

City have won just two league games in front of the Kop in the last 65 years.

Wijnaldum said: “Players don’t really care about the history of this fixture because every game is a new game. I think City now have a better team than they once did.

“Having said that, last season was an excellent game – not just for me, but for all of us. We played very well against a good team and I was lucky enough to score the winning goal.”