El Clásico.

A term that was imported from Latin America in the early 2000s to describe the highly anticipated fixture between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The label derived from the hold that the two Spanish clubs had over La Liga, with their meetings differing in nature to a typical derby.

Instead, the match represented a clash between the two best sides in the country, the only two that had a genuine shot of securing the league title.

A duopoly, of sorts.

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Since, Der Klassiker has followed. Germany’s take on the expression to capture the Bundesliga dominance of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

England failed to follow suit, because it couldn’t.

The Premier League is renowned for embracing the unpredictable aspects of football, and rather than having a top two, there has instead essentially been a top six. Until now.

Last season, two Premier League teams finished streets ahead of the rest, having amassed points totals of 98 and 97 respectively.

The team that were crowned as champions won 32 of their 38 matches, with the second-placed side losing only once all season.

The former scored an irrepressible 95 goals, while the latter kept 21 clean sheets.

This season, a gap has already emerged after only eleven fixtures, with the two rivals reaffirming their advanced level in comparison to their competitors.

Those teams? Manchester City and Liverpool... The Classic.

The pair meet at Anfield on November 10 for the first time this season, with the victors gaining a potentially decisive three points over the other.

When the general standard of two groups of players is so closely matched, individual quality alone cannot be relied upon as much as usual to secure a win.

The tactical aspects of the game become more prominent, with subtle calculated ploys often proving to make the difference.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool versus Pep Guardiola’s City has been fascinating from a strategic perspective, with the former having the upper hand initially, before the latter figured out his failings and corrected them accordingly, resulting in a draw and a win materialising for City last season.

The two met four times in 2017/18, with Liverpool winning three of those meetings and suffering defeat only once having lost Sadio Mane to a 37th minute red card at the Etihad.

Klopp's side ended City's unbeaten league run in the January fixture with a thrilling 4-3 victory on Merseyside, and they also knocked the Manchester club out of Europe having won both home and away in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Crucially, though, Klopp gained the upper hand despite managing the weaker team. The tactics imposed by Liverpool acted as kryptonite to City's controlling powers in all of those three consecutive wins.

In the 4-3 victory at Anfield, Guardiola set his team up almost as though he was facing mid-table opposition. The customary 4-3-3 was utilised by the Spanish coach, as pictured below, and his team seemed to play without any consideration for the strengths of Liverpool.

(Image: Wyscout)

City battled for second-balls, attempted line-breaking passes, and expanded to open up the field once securing possession.

During that period of time, though, Klopp's side were very much a transition-cycle team, with an emphasis placed on thriving when the ball is loose. The team prospered when allowed to force opposing teams into mistakes, before countering immediately once securing the ball. Guardiola, naively, played right into Klopp's hands.

After an hour with the scores level, City had the ball near Liverpool's defensive third, but had committed too many players forward into advanced areas. The visitors lost possession at the hands of Gini Wijnaldum, and their immediate reaction was lapse, with Kevin De Bruyne pressing on his own to regain the ball, shown below.

Wijnaldum evaded the press and was free to feed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had scored the opener 50 minutes earlier. He then drove effortlessly into City's half, with excessive space ahead of him that Liverpool's front three could dart into, shown below.

Oxlade-Chamberlain found Roberto Firmino, and the Brazilian outmuscled John Stones before chipping over Ederson to score.

Two minutes later, Guardiola's men proceeded to make another error. Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan and Nicolas Otamendi took risks in a central area while surrounded by opponents, before Mohamed Salah anticipated a pass and intercepted, shown below.

The Egyptian forward took control of the ball and the resulting attack unfolded rapidly, ending with Sadio Mane finding the top corner of the net, shown below.

The Reds proceeded to score another, with Salah hitting over Ederson from 40 yards in another moment of chaos that derived from City's willingness to take risks, as well as their failure to respect Liverpool's strengths.

City pegged Klopp’s team back with two late goals, stemming from Liverpool’s inability at the time to manage match scenarios, but the Reds hung on to secure the win nonetheless.

Three months later, the two met again having been drawn together in the Champions League. The first clash was scheduled to take place at Anfield, with onlookers anticipating a finely balanced 180-minute tie that would feature goals, goals and more goals.

Half an hour into the contest, though, progression into the latter rounds had already escaped City's reach, having conceded three without reply inside 31 minutes.

A new plan had been derived by Guardiola, as his team began in the shape of 4-2-3-1 rather than 4-3-3.

In the lead up to the fixture, Liverpool had suffered twice at the hands of the right side of their defence due to an undeveloped version of Trent Alexander-Arnold, with Marcus Rashford causing the youngster problems at Old Trafford, shown below.

Following that performance, Crystal Palace gained a penalty at Selhurst Park after Wilfried Zaha was fouled once attacking the same zone. Guardiola had found a weakness.

The Spanish coach had selected 4-2-3-1, but the formation was somewhat asymmetrical on the pitch. Leroy Sane was the chosen player to execute the tactical ploy, with Guardiola instructing his team to persistently probe and test Alexander-Arnold's defensive capabilities.

Sane's role is captured in the average positions graphic below, with City evidently favouring their left as opposed to their right.

(Image: Wyscout)

The academy prospect coped remarkably well, though, making more interceptions than any other player on the pitch. Sane attempted more dribbles than the whole of his team combined with twelve, but only completed 50% of them.

Liverpool’s weakness was masked, and Guardiola's perseverance in trying to play idealistically by placing heavy demands on the shoulders of his players again proved to be destructive.

The opening goal was scored after just 12 minutes, with City foolishly losing possession from a set-piece, allowing Liverpool to counter-attack, shown below.

Salah drove towards the penalty box and once the ball fell loose, he found the back of the net from around six yards out.

Less than ten minutes later, City again engaged in a battle in the middle of the park, with James Milner winning a duel that fed Oxlade-Chamberlain. The English midfielder then took one touch before hitting home from outside the box, shown below.

Mane scored Liverpool’s third before half-time, and the Reds took their 3-0 lead to the Etihad. Guardiola and City had again succumbed to the chaos of Anfield.

In the return leg, Guardiola largely opted to stick with the same plan regarding his usage of Sane, but he changed his formation from 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-1-1, shown below.

(Image: Wyscout)

The Spaniard had opted for a back three, but whenever the ball was lost, Fernandinho would slot in alongside Otamendi and Aymeric Laporte to close the channel that Salah had a tendency to attack.

There was some logic in that move considering Salah was experiencing his best ever campaign, but it was also apparent that Guardiola was overthinking things. He’d opted against using the 4-3-3 that had dominated the Premier League, and was instead constructing elaborate, complicated schemes while Klopp retained his usual go-to system.

Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring for the Manchester club inside two minutes, but they struggled to break through Liverpool’s defence from that point onwards.

Near the hour mark, with City committing players forward to bridge the gap in the scoreline, Klopp’s men pounced with a counter-attack.

The ball broke to Oxlade Chamberlain in midfield, allowing him to provide a link to the attackers, shown below, as was the case for Firmino’s goal in the 4-3 contest months earlier.

The move then unfolded with Mane and Salah, ending with the latter chipping Ederson to equalise. Liverpool led 4-1 on aggregate, and as a consequence of City’s players losing hope and composure, Otamendi was forced into an error by Firmino who had pressurised the Argentine defender while limiting his passing options, shown below.

The Anfield club had knocked City and Guardiola out of the competition they crave success in most, while also putting an end to their unbeaten league run in the 4-3 clash.

Six months later, the two met again. Finally, though, Guardiola demonstrated evidence that he had learnt from his mistakes.

It was a new season, and Klopp’s side seemed intent on challenging City for the title by improving upon their fourth-placed finish the year before. The Reds had won seven, drawn one and lost zero, with City boasting the exact same record.

Something had to give, but it didn’t.

Guardiola used 4-2-3-1 once more, but this time, he appeared to instruct his team to completely avoid the centre of the park. City built their plays using the flanks rather than attempting to play through the middle where Klopp’s workhorses lurked.

The Spanish boss had recognised that his team had suffered previously because of their readiness to take risks. City’s deeper players had once dared to play, but that had simply allowed Klopp’s underdogs to remain compact before forcing a mistake and driving forwards.

By playing through the flanks and avoiding the middle, City had managed to negate Liverpool’s main offensive weapon under Klopp - pressing. The Liverpool boss had relied upon the errors made by City in the past to create scoring opportunities, but that was no longer possible.

The Anfield meeting ended 0-0, with the Reds posting an xG of just 0.36 having found the target with only two shots. City, although they hadn’t won, managed to return home with a sense of evolution.

Guardiola’s acceptance that risk was not beneficial permitted his players to control the ferocity of Anfield more so than before. The problem during the match, though, was that while the risk-averse approach had nullified Liverpool’s offensive game, it had also restricted City’s.

The champions took only five shots compared to their usual figure in the region of 17, while failing to create a single open-play chance with an xG worth more than 0.07, shown below.

(Image: Wyscout)

The two teams had cancelled each other out, but there was enough evidence to suggest that Guardiola had looked in the mirror.

Three months later, with Liverpool leading the Premier League table, Guardiola finally overcome his hoodoo at the Etihad with a 2-1 win.

The 4-2-3-1 remained, as did City’s preference to build around Liverpool rather than through them. As a result, though, the home side’s attackers had to continue feeding on mostly unrealistic chances.

The difference this time around was that those chances were seized upon and converted despite their difficulty. Sergio Aguero scored the first from an awkward angle having edged out Dejan Lovren, before Sane stepped up on the 72nd minute by finding the net with a shot that bounced off the far post, shown below.

Plenty of players would have struggled to make those chances count, but the individual quality of Aguero and Sane core to the fore.

During the contest, Klopp’s side again failed to generate shots through pressing as a consequence of City’s tendency to avoid taking risks in certain areas.

The goal that Firmino did manage to score stemmed from a long passing sequence with the likes of Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson linking up despite playing on opposite flanks.

The open-play move featured as many as 16 uninterrupted passes before the Brazilian headed into the net, and was representative of the type of goal that City usually score.

Liverpool suffered defeat, but that Firmino goal offered an insight into the path that Klopp may have to follow in future meetings. Pressing, it seems, is no longer a reliable means of chance creation for the Reds against City, as Guardiola has adapted to ensure those moments are avoided at all costs.

This weekend, the two outfits will clash again.

Will Klopp stick or twist regarding his approach to facing the current champions? The reliance on pressing to forge chances by encouraging City to make errors hasn’t been as rewarding in the past two contests, but on the other hand, Guardiola has issues in his defence.

Laporte is the Spaniard’s most reliable defender, but he’s out through injury. Vincent Kompany is no longer at the club, Joao Cancelo is yet to experience Anfield and Fernandinho is currently having to operate as a central defender.

Those circumstances, as well as the edge that Liverpool hold in the Premier League table, may influence Klopp into favouring his tried and tested approach.

If City again manage to erase mistakes from their game, then the German boss has the tools to instigate another means of posing a threat by effectively introducing midfielders that naturally possess offensive traits, as Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita are available unlike last year.

Sunday’s bout will incorporate 90 minutes of risk versus reward. The more return sought, the more risk that must be undertaken, which may bode well for the Reds considering their lead.

The next chapter of The Classic awaits.