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The one thing we must not show against Manchester City is a single shred of fear.

Yes, it will be a tough game. Yes, they are a good side with good players. And at the top of the league just now.

But it is important to go into these games, where we are perhaps seen as underdogs, without any sense of trepidation at all.

The result last time out against Crystal Palace - and the defensive lapses - will help ensure there is no sense of complacency, of course. But that aside, Jurgen Klopp is a manager who simply won’t allow his players to be intimidated by any opponents or the challenge they pose.

Right from word go, Jurgen has urged everyone to believe. And we saw all of that in place at Chelsea, when after going a goal down early on, we played them off the park and scored three goals to win it.

Don’t get me wrong, we’ll have a lot of defending to do at times I’m sure. But with maximum concentration and belief - and by staying disciplined and organised - I’m quietly confident we can go there and get a good result.

The battle up front between Benteke and Otamendi will be important. Benteke is a handful for anyone with his hold up play and eye for a goal - but I rate Otamendi as one of the best defenders in the league. He is very aggressive and brave and it will be a great battle between the two of them.

Coutinho and Firmino can be key players for us. They are fresh having not been away on international duty and need to find those spaces and support Benteke to really hurt and punish City.

Raheem Sterling is obviously the big talking point too. We know all about him and while he can be inconsistent, we’ll have to deny him space to use his pace and get at us.

But the message is clear for me.

The lads must relish the challenge City pose, give it everything they’ve got - and simply show no fear.

Why I hope James Milner has a ball this weekend

We faced a tough run of away games in the first part of the season and in a sense that ends with the trip to City.

So with a good result, we can hopefully kick on from here now.

There’s at last some good news on the injury front with Daniel Sturridge back in training and Jurgen tempted to use him at some stage at City.

It’s also good to hear that Mamadou Sakho’s knee problem may not keep him out for as long as we all thought.

Dejan Lovren clearly has the confidence of the boss to cover for Sakho but he now has to step up and show he can do it at this level as I’m not certain he’ll get many more chances.

James Milner is also back in contention and that’s good news for him going back to City.

The Liverpool captain is running his charity ball on Sunday, night which I’ll be at, and after raising over £100,000 last year, I’m sure another big sum will ensue this year.

Footballers often get a bad press but so many of them do truly great work like this and they deserve it to be recognised, I think.

For sure, James will enjoy it all that bit more if he and we have put one over his old club the night before!