| It’s the most anticipated game of the Premier League season so far. The game could prove to be the crucial moment in the race for the title, as Man City host Liverpool with just a single point separating the two teams at the top of the table. At some points earlier in the calendar it looked like Man City were going to charge all the way to the title with no problems, but after their defeat to Spurs, as well as draws against Southampton and Crystal Palace, Liverpool are right back in it winning every league game since their draw with Chelsea on January 2nd. Both teams had their Champions League wins mid-week so it will be a level playing field in that sense, and it means on Sunday we’ll have a proper clash of the best two teams in the league. But Liverpool have not been at their peak in the past few games, getting knocked out of the FA Cup by Nottingham Forest, and relying more on their defence than they would like to in order to get the results they need. Both teams have the best attacking and defensive records in the league, with Liverpool scoring 77 goals in their 30 games so far, compared to Man City’s 70. Meanwhile at the back City’s defence has only allowed 18 goals compared to Liverpool’s 20. Chelsea’s defence isn’t far behind, but in terms of goal scoring, nobody else comes close to these two in the Premier League. The feeling I have is that we will be seeing a Liverpool side that has no problem with allowing City to have the ball in the areas of the pitch where they aren’t dangerous. City can keep the ball in the back four and Liverpool won’t mind at all, and when they allow them to come closer they will try to win the ball and hit them on the break. If you look at the Champions League game between City and Atletico you can see Atletico tried to do the same thing. City have to be careful and make sure they’re not too wide open, because we all know Liverpool can hurt them when they try to regroup after losing the ball. City on the other hand will try to frustrate Liverpool by trying to keep the ball as much as they can to control the game, and wait until they can find some open pockets to create 1v1 moments. I look forward to a game where both managers aren’t scared of each other but they are definitely worried about being surprised by each other. #mmlove |
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