Sport
Man City-Liverpool rivalry could still produce fireworks
Liverpool and Manchester City’s rivalry defined an entire era of the Premier League. Over a number of seasons, the two teams fought for English and European football dominance with the pair pushing each other to higher and higher heights. This season, though, the rivalry has been more of a distant acquittance.
While City are still in the hunt for the Premier League title, currently sitting eight points off the pace being set by Arsenal at the top of the table, Liverpool are merely scrapping to keep their place in the top four. Having dropped down as far as mid-table, Champions League qualification is the best they can hope for.
Nonetheless, Saturday’s clash at the Etihad Stadium could still produce fireworks. City and Liverpool might not be fighting each other this season, they are still fighting for something and so points are extremely valuable. The stakes will be extremely high when the match kicks off this weekend.
Rivalries don’t just dissipate overnight. Look at how the competition between Arsenal and Manchester United lingered for a long time even as the Gunners fell away from the top of the Premier League table towards the end of Arsene Wenger’s time at the club. City and Liverpool will still feel the emotions of the last few years.
While the rivalry between City and Liverpool, and Guardiola and Klopp in particular, has been underpinned by a mutual respect, there were signs last year that tension was rising to the surface. Klopp faced accusations of xenophobia after highlighting Liverpool’s inability to compete financially with City in the transfer market.
“Nobody can compete with City in that,” he said. “You have the best team in the world and you put in the best striker on the market. No matter what it costs, you just do it. City will not like it, nobody will like it, you ask the question but you know the answer. We cannot act like them. It’s not possible. Not possible.”
Klopp was referencing Manchester City’s signing of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund last summer with the Norwegian reportedly one of the highest paid players in the Premier League. Liverpool have spent big in the transfer market, but they are increasingly finding their resources can only buy them so much – see how Liverpool are reportedly being priced out of the pursuit of Jude Bellingham.
Liverpool’s 7-0 win over Manchester United should serve as a warning to City. While the Reds have struggled badly for consistency over the course of the 2022/23 campaign, they still carry the attacking threat to trouble even the strongest of opponents. Liverpool almost certainly won’t score seven at the Etihad, but they could still claim all three points.
City have been made to look vulnerable against teams that can play in quick transition. Manchester United did this in a derby victory at Old Trafford while even Nottingham Forest were able to bloody the nose of the defending Premier League champions through the pace and directness of Brennan Johnson.
Conversely, Liverpool have struggled against high-intensity, high-energy opponents this season. Klopp’s midfield unit looks much older than it did last season and that has made them weaker in an attacking and defensive sense with even Virgil van Dijk a soft touch in various performances produced by the Dutchman of late.
Arsenal might be leading the way in the Premier League title race, but City and Liverpool might still be the highest calibre teams in the division right now in terms of the talent boasted by both sides. Their rivalry is also still the most compelling in England’s top flight even if it is in the midst of a fallow year.
