By Jordan Carreno

Matchday 21 sees the Reds head up the road to take on Manchester City at the Etihad. Kick off is scheduled for 3:00 PM EST on Thursday.

Manchester City v Liverpool — 01/03/2019 2000 GMT

It is hard to think of a better way to ring in the new year of Liverpool football than a top of the table clash against Manchester City. The Reds will be looking to widen the gap between themselves and City even further, while City will be hoping to make up ground in the title race. As far as midseason clashes go, the stakes couldn’t get any higher.

As always, all 3 LFC Tampa Bay locations will be open, serving, and showing the match. So, cook up an excuses to get out of a work and come join your fellow Tampa Bay Reds in cheering on Jurgen and the lads. With all that being said, let’s get into the talking points.

Pep’s Red Obsession

Jurgen Klopp has spent the whole season pushing aside the idea that he and his team have an eye on City. The message has been consistent from Jurgen Klopp: Liverpool are only focused on themselves and no one else. For Pep Guardiola though, the message has been almost the opposite. It almost seems as if Pep obsesses over Klopp and the Reds.

It first came to light upon the release of the Amazon Prime series that followed City’s season, “All or Nothing”. It was in this series we got a glimpse into the City locker room and Pep’s obsession over Liverpool. Before their game against Everton, which took place 4 days before the 1st leg of the Champions League quarterfinal at Anfield, Pep Guardiola and his staff were shown discussing Liverpool and their dangerous front 3 during one of their meetings. It was easy to see the worry and strain on Pep’s face when contemplating going up against Liverpool.

Whilst that particular discussion could have been chalked up to the Premier League being all but won for City and the importance of the upcoming Champions League tie, Pep’s obsession with the Reds has only gotten worse since then.

Pep Guardiola seems to have an obsession with Liverpool, birthed out the trauma they’ve caused him

First, he brought up the bus incident again and how the Liverpool Police needed to protect his squad when City came to Anfield in October. Then there was the mention of James Milner when discussing how Raheem Sterling could have told the referee that City shouldn’t have gotten a penalty against Shakhtar. Later on, Pep mentioned how he can’t even read because he thinks about Jurgen and the Reds so much. It is clear to see that Liverpool live in Guardiola’s head, rent free.

In some ways, it points to Pep feeling that Liverpool are the team his City side need to worry about the most. In that sense this obsession is a sign of respect. However, it also has shades of Pep Guardiola being haunted and scarred by Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. It is almost as if Pep is a scorned ex-lover of Jurgen’s, who still can’t get over being dumped and discarded. Hopefully, come Thursday, Liverpool can make those wounds even deeper and give Pep more demons to haunt him.

A False Sense of Comfort

When Liverpool and City went head to head earlier this season, the game ended up being much different than what everyone had imagined. City came out in a more defensive structure which meant the game wasn’t the chaotic, end-to-end affair that everyone was expecting. This largely came down to Guardiola reaching the sound conclusion that you can’t play an open brand of football against Liverpool at Anfield.

It was a bit shocking to hear Pep, a man full of arrogance when it comes to his style of football, concede that he needed to take a different approach. However given the nature of his side’s last two appearances at Anfield prior to the meeting in October, it is understandable why Pep would adapt. Guardiola humbled himself and, in doing so, avoided being caught with his pants down again.

Whilst Pep’s arrogance may be muted when it comes to playing at Anfield, it undoubtedly still exists when it comes to playing on City’s own patch. Having beaten Liverpool 5–0 in this fixture last year and chalking up the 2–1 loss in the Champions League to refereeing, Pep will most likely revert to that undying belief in his style of football. Also, with the margin at the top of the table being what it is, City have no reason not to come out and play their usual brand.

We are unlikely to see that same cautious and defensive approached deployed by City at Anfield and, though City are talented and drilled enough to cause Liverpool problems with their style of play, it could end up being exactly what Jurgen and his team want. This season’s Liverpool squad is much more stout at the back and far more capable at weathering pressure from the opposition. The Reds are also still just as capable at pressing the opposition, going forward, and counter attacking opponents.

Though there is a chance that Liverpool will attempt to go toe to toe with City, it could also be a perfect chance to “rope-a-dope” Pep’s side. Fueling that arrogance and giving City a false sense of control in the game could leave them vulnerable to a quick strike. For all the offensive might and comfort in possession that Manchester City have, they still have issues at the back and with handling adversity. Allowing City to feel they are in control before pulling the rug out from under them could create the type of chaos Liverpool have thrived in against City.

Definitively Better

Despite being undefeated in the last 4 against City, Liverpool still have to prove themselves the better side

Coming into this season, this Manchester City side were lauded as being the greatest football team that the Premier League has ever seen. Pundits around the world couldn’t heap enough praise onto Pep Guardiola and his squad, and many expected City to run away with the league, again. Even now, with City trailing Liverpool by 7 points, many in the media still see City as favorites and the best side in the Premier League.

Despite beating this City side 3 times in the last 4 meetings, despite haunting Pep’s dreams, despite collecting the same amount of points in the whole of 2018, the “experts” still aren’t ready to consider that this Liverpool side might be just as good if not better than City. Even with a 7 point gap and having made up the goal difference by the midway point of the season, Liverpool have still not done enough to be considered on City’s level.

Liverpool’s goals as a club undoubtedly include becoming a force similar to what the Reds were in the 70’s and 80’s. It was during this time that Liverpool were by far the greatest team in England and arguably the greatest team in the world. At this point, the only thing separating Liverpool from reclaiming the title as England’s best side is the public perception that Manchester City are better than them.

Surely, if Liverpool win on Thursday night, then the collective football punditry world would have to change their tune and concede Liverpool’s dominance. If Liverpool manage to walk away with all 3 points from the Etihad, then it would be hard to debate Liverpool’s superiority over Manchester City.

Whilst the players have used the experience of beating city 3 times in the second half of last season to fuel their belief that they can match and better City’s efforts, the media have yet to catch onto this idea. A win on Thursday and the Reds should definitively end that debate and begin to build their own, dominant legacy.

Prediction

We stay in the domestic league where, once again, David and I find ourselves level on Points. David picked up 2 points last time out for predicting the Reds would win and Arsenal would score 1, and I only picked up 1 for predicting a Liverpool victory. We are now even at 26 points.

I really don’t know what to expect from Klopp in this game. For most of the season we have jumped between a 4–2–3–1 and 4–3–3 based on the style of play of our opponent. Up until the Arsenal game, we reserved the 4–2–3–1 for more defensive teams and used the 4–3–3 against teams that try to play football. Then Klopp ran out the 4–2–3–1 against Arsenal and all of that went to the wind.

Part of me thinks this is the moment Klopp has been waiting for to unleash the “Heavy Metal Football” of our first 2.5 seasons under Klopp, while the other part of me thinks Klopp respects City and Guardiola enough to deploy the more cautious approach we’ve seen in the first half of this season. Then I remember that Klopp has only lost once to Pep Guardiola in the Premier League and that loss largely came down to a fluke Sadio Mane red card.

So, I expect to see the fast paced, chaotic style that has given Pep and his team so much trouble when going against Klopp’s Liverpool sides. I expect vengeful Klopp to make another appearance and for the team to be keen to set things straight for the 5–0 endured in this fixture last season. I expect to come out the other end of this fixture with the rest of the footballing world in awe of the Liverpool side whilst us Liverpool supporters feel vindicated. I expect to see Pep Guardiola sat on his arse with his arms crossed as he stews in his own misery by the 70th minute. 3–0.

David’s Prediction: These two managers have been playing a chess match for years, the evolution of each on full display. October was strange, but in the context of their history against one another, Pep’s sides have bettered Klopp’s when they start slow, lower the intensity of the game and then attack. They’ll likely look to do this again. The problem for the Cityzens is that Klopp’s style has changed a bit this season and this Liverpool side are so much more composed than they were last year, where chaos reigned. Its strength now is maintaining their definition of order and the ability to just grind away at teams until they break. City will be harder to break than others and in fact, I suspect this will look more like the back and forth affair we thought we were going to get in October. But City, despite being at home and playing their way, struggle with the Reds versatility, both in talent and tactics. We go up 1–0 and they level, we make it 2–1 and then they level, but finally, a stunner from Super Sub Shaq wins it in the final ten minutes for the Reds. 3–2 to Liverpool in a match that has your backside clenching tighter than Ironman’s fist.