By Daily sports on November 8, 2020

Liverpool take on title rivals Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon in a contest that may ultimately come down to a battle between the Premier League champions’ uncharacteristically porous defence and the home side’s star-studded attack.

Jurgen Klopp’s side may have had the meanest defence in the top flight for the past two campaigns – conceding just 22 and 33 goals in 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively – but that rock-solid back-line has evaporated this season.

Liverpool have worrying let in 15 goals in their seven Premier League games this campaign, as many as they shipped in their first 26 top-flight matches last term. Indeed, it’s the most the Reds have conceded seven games into a league campaign since 1964-65, while only newly-promoted West Brom have let in more so far this season.

With star man Virgil van Dijk missing from the visitors’ back-line this weekend for their toughest examination of the campaign, City must be fancying their chances of closing the gap on the leaders given both the potency of their forward line and their seemingly settled defence.

And with City having won their last three home league games against Liverpool by an aggregate score of 11-1, the omens look good for Pep Guardiola’s team.

So can Liverpool’s ever-changing back four – Klopp used his 36th different centre-back partnership in Tuesday’s 5-0 Champions League win at Atalanta – step up and blunt their hosts’ pacy attack?

Liverpool epitomised defensive solidity for the majority of last season – at least up until lockdown, when the title was effectively secured – while City struggled to maintain their customary watertight ways.

As the graphic below reveals, Van Dijk started every single league fixture at centre back and Joe Gomez started more than half of the games – with Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip each starting around one in five matches.

But City were rocked by Aymeric Laporte’s long-term injury, forced to rotate and test numerous partnerships in the Frenchman’s absence – in fact, defensive midfielder Fernandinho was the most regular starter in the centre of defence.

Fast forward to this campaign and there is far less consistency. The graphic below suggests Liverpool are once again the most consistent – but Van Dijk has been potentially ruled out for the remainder of this season.

Similar to how Fernandinho stepped in for Laporte at City last term, Fabinho is now the Reds’ second most regular starter at the back from available players – although the makeshift defender misses out this weekend with injury – with Matip and Nat Phillips also featuring.

For City, consistency appears to be emerging, with Ruben Dias settling in seamlessly since his summer switch from Benfica, while Laporte now his regular partner at the back – with fellow new boy Nathan Ake, Eric Garcia and John Stones all in reserve.

So, defensively, Liverpool now face the same struggles City did last season: a long spell without their key lynchpin at the back and a period of experimentation to rekindle solidity.

But Liverpool’s defensive frailties and risky high line were exposed before Van Dijk was injured, particularly after the 7-2 defeat against Aston Villa – which has led to a skewed season average of 2.1 goals conceded per game.

Leeds and Aston Villa both targeted attacks down Liverpool’s right flank – namely against Trent Alexander-Arnold and Gomez – and the majority of the Reds’ goals conceded this term have come from areas marshalled by that pair.

SELECTION ISSUES

Both managers have a number of dilemmas regarding their starting line-ups at the Etihad.

Guardiola must decide who starts at left-back, Joao Cancelo or Oleksandr Zinchenko, with Benjamin Mendy currently injured, and who partners Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri in a three-man midfield?

And does the City boss go with the now fit-again Gabriel Jesus in attack, or the same front three who featured against Olympiakos and Sheffield United in their previous two games – Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling and Ferran Torres?

As for Liverpool, Klopp’s main questions revolve around the identity of Gomez’s centre-back partner, with Matip now available after a recent muscle problem, although both Phillips and Rhys Williams impressed in the role in the club’s last two matches.

However, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher thinks Klopp will go with the more experienced Matip on Sunday.

“I think he'll go with Matip, the big-game experience, and he wasn’t shy in putting him straight in against Everton, as well, another tough game for Liverpool away from home,” said the Sky Sports pundit.

“The only thing is fitness and playing games, but I don’t think that’s ever really been a problem for Matip because he’s injured so often he’s always in that position where he’s coming back without having had the full training programme or games under his belt or a pre-season because he is very injury prone.

“I actually think Matip has possibly been ready for the last game or two and the manager has almost kept him in reserve for the City game and making sure he’s got two recognised senior centre-backs for that City game. I fully expect Matip to play in this game.”

The Liverpool manager also faces a tricky call up front given Roberto Firmino’s recent struggles in that position, in stark contrast to the electric form shown by Diogo Jota since his arrival at Anfield last summer.

Carragher, though, believes the Brazilian will get the nod, just.

“Jota’s form warrants a start, you can’t argue about that, but I just think the manager will go back to Firmino, the way they’ve set up before,” said the ex-Liverpool captain.

“I think Firmino this season, he’s not been at his best, there’s no doubt. I don’t think he was at his best last season. But they’ve always performed in the big games – Everton, Arsenal, Chelsea. That’s when teams play out from the back and that’s when Bobby Firmino is a huge part of that press and winning the ball back and almost not letting teams get out of their own half.

“That was certainly the case in those three games I mentioned, those teams really struggled to get through the press of Liverpool.

“I think Jurgen Klopp will know that Man City want to play out from the back and he’ll go with his pressing machine. There’s no doubt Jota can do this as well, ‘he’s a pressing monster’, that was the description of him from Pep Lijnders, Jurgen Klopp’s assistant, so there’s no worries about him on that score.

“But I just think for this game and the type of game it will be and the fact that Bobby has played so many games against Man City and Liverpool have had success in those games, I just think he’ll go back to that.” (Sky Sports)

•PHOTO: Guardiola and Klopp

Source Daily sports

Posted November 8, 2020

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