Liverpool vs Man City: How Arne Slot's Reds can effectively end reigning Premier League champions' title defence before Christmas
Has Christmas come early for Liverpool as they take on a wounded Man City, live on Super Sunday, with the chance to move 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League?; watch Liverpool vs Manchester City live on Sky Sports Main Event on Sunday; kick-off 4pm
Friday 29 November 2024 14:21, UK
Liverpool will be licking their lips in anticipation. Luck has befallen them. The Premier League leaders face a Manchester City side in freefall on Super Sunday this weekend, with the chance to effectively end their rivals' title defence for good. Christmas has surely come early.
Sunday will be as much about Man City's demise - should they lose - as it will be about Liverpool's likely pursuit of silverware this season, but as the old saying goes: 'You can only play what's in front of you.'
And what awaits Liverpool at Anfield is a shell of side, scarcely capable of disarming Feyenoord, the Eredivisie's fourth-placed team, let alone the Premier League's frontrunners. Man City appear to have been purged of their powers.
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This meeting, at this particular point in the season, is almost serendipitous for Arne Slot. Rarely, if ever, have the circumstances been more favourable. Slot's Liverpool have the potential to benefit in the most profound of ways on Sunday, stealing a march on Pep Guardiola in the Dutchman's very first managerial meeting.
How often do you get the opportunity to kick City while they are down? They are walking wounded - on a six-game winless run, including five defeats - and if Liverpool take advantage as most expect them to, surely the title race is all but over? The outlook is as polarising as it's been for years.
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"Liverpool have been excellent and have every chance of winning this title," remarked Roy Keane last weekend. "If they turn up at their very best, with the fans behind them, and beat City - what a statement it would be. It would be over for City if they lose."
Paul Merson's view: "The Premier League need Man City to win on Sunday, because otherwise Liverpool are going to spread-eagle. They could run away with this league title very soon." Opta puts Liverpool's chances of lifting the trophy in May at 74.8 per cent.
And yet, they have won just one of their last nine Premier League games against Man City. This fixture has not been a happy hunting ground in recent times, needing to travel back to October 2022 to dig up the last positive result - Mohamed Salah predictably scoring the decider in a 1-0 win.
It would surprise few if the same matchwinner resurfaced this time around. As well as having the most goals and assists combined in the Premier League this season (16), Salah's goal involvements have also been worth a league-high 17 points to Liverpool this term.
Putting the final nail in Man City's coffin may well act as the sweetener to the Egyptian's lobbying for a new and improved deal - more on that later.
Positive omens are plentiful. Only once (Manchester United in 1993/94) has a team had a greater lead on rivals than Liverpool possess right now after 12 games. Their haul of 31 points can only be equalled or bettered 10 times in Premier League history - eight of those clubs were crowned title winners.
It's hard to imagine a world where Slot would allow complacency to set in, even with such a significant eight-point, which could extend to 11-point, gap. This is not a manager who neglects the fundamentals. He knows nothing is won this side of Christmas, albeit hope, in Man City's case, could be altogether lost.
Pragmatic Slot will have a plan for Sunday, and little of it will ride on the notion that the visitors to Merseyside will simply roll over. A character such as Slot senses the opportunity but also the risk.
He will want to win by design, because teams who leave things to chance against Man City - as downbeat and leggy as they are - get punished.
Back in 2022, where Salah settled a fiery and pulsating encounter at Anfield - Jurgen Klopp was actually sent off - it was goalkeeper Alisson who carved the opening with a run-of-the-mill punt downfield. What Salah did with that long kick was nothing short of sensational, but this was a game of frayed tempers and fine margins. Were it not for Alisson's quick thinking or Joao Cancelo's inability to defend, the game could quite easily have finished 0-0.
This time, Slot will want control and calm heads. Liverpool are in a position to demand such standards. They are capable, at full throttle, of putting this fragile Man City side to task at both ends of the pitch, much in the same way they scolded Champions League holders Real Madrid on Wednesday night to stay perfect in Europe.
Another test passed.
They say to be the best, you have to beat the best. Real and England midfielder Jude Bellingham called Liverpool the "best-performing team in Europe" right now. He's probably right. There exists a fearsome mix of starpower and firepower at the top end, a clean and tidy midfield engine who can run but also create, and a sturdy backline who rarely concede goals. Deputy goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher even denied Kylian Mbappe from the penalty spot on Wednesday.
Everything that can go right is going right.
Perhaps the only lingering uncertainty concerns the elaborate game of Snog, Marry, Avoid Liverpool are playing with their three best players. Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Salah's contracts all expire this summer, and talks over future deals appear no further forwards, with suggestions the club can only afford to keep two of three. Slot will be hoping none of his prized trio are lost, but ultimately, negotiations will be out of his hands.
His influence on the efficiency of this Liverpool side on the pitch, however, has been keenly felt. Their only Premier League defeat this season was a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest, having won seven of their eight games since then, scoring at least twice in all but one. Momentum is building. A fuse has been lit.
And now comes the fortuity to issue the biggest statement of all. To follow up the beating of the reigning European champions with victory over the six-time (under Pep) Premier League champions, all within a four-day period, would be something to cherish. A keepsake to treasure.
Liverpool have their chance, they just have to take it.
