Players On The Great Liverpool Vs Man City Clash This Weekend
Players On The Great Liverpool Vs Man City Clash This Weekend.
Hardly somehow, Liverpool has been struggling in the premier league this season, their form has not yet faded but the magnitude is somehow draining every more game they played.
However, Liverpool has been the only side to push City close in the league in recent seasons but they’ve lost a little spark this term, while the Blues have gone to another level in front of goal since the arrival of Erling Haaland.
But De Bruyne still expects a difficult game and City did have to play for an hour with 10 men in Copenhagen on Tuesday night, securing their passage to the Champions League last-16 with a goalless draw in Denmark, although the Belgian midfielder insisted he was still feeling strong after the game.
“I expect them to be at the best Liverpool possible,” said De Bruyne. “Obviously they lost some points but they are still Liverpool and I expect them to be good, that’s the only way I see it.
“I like big games, I like good atmospheres. It’s a game like any other, obviously, it’s hard playing away at a top-six team always, I think the last few years we’ve done well, even last year if we didn’t win so I think it’s probably going to be a good game again.”
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Man City was excellent in drawing 2-2 at Anfield last season and they won 4-1 on Merseyside the year before. While they’ve lost the FA Cup semi-final and Community Shield to Liverpool in the last two meetings, Pep Guardiola’s side is unbeaten in the last five Premier League fixtures between the two teams.
De Bruyne puts City’s improvement against a team who have often posed them problems down to their ability to control games and take the sting out of Liverpool.
“Maybe we have more control of the game, they are more of an up-and-down team and we are a team who has more control of the game, so if you can control that style of play then maybe you have more of a chance,” he said.
“Last year I thought we played great but we didn’t win any of the games so sometimes it goes that way.”
De Bruyne, who has nine assists already this term, put that down to trusting their own game in what is usually a febrile atmosphere. Normally billed as a title clash, Liverpool is 13 points adrift of the Premier League champions with a game in hand.
‘The last few years we have done well. Maybe we have more control of the game,’ De Bruyne said. ‘They are more of an up-and-down team and we are a team who has more control of the game.
‘If you can control that style of play then maybe you have more of a chance. Last year I thought we played great but we didn’t win. Sometimes it goes that way.
‘I expect them to be the best Liverpool possible. Obviously, they lost some points but they are still Liverpool and I expect them to be good – that’s the only way I see it.’
Pep Guardiola revealed after Tuesday night’s goalless draw in Copenhagen that a number of his stars were ‘exhausted’, with City not calling on Erling Haaland from the bench in the Champions League. City hopes to have Haaland – who was struggling physically after reaching 20 goals for the season against Southampton last Saturday – fully fit for the trip.
Guardiola decided to fly straight back to Manchester from the early kick-off in Denmark, offering an extra full day’s preparation at home after City played an hour with 10 men following Sergio Gomez’s red card.
‘Copenhagen was a very hard match, a lot of players ran a lot of miles,’ Nathan Ake said. ‘We have a little bit of time before the next game and I am sure when we get there everyone will be ready to play.
‘I have always got the feeling that at one point Liverpool can just bounce back because they have a quality manager and all the players are quality. They have shown that over the years. I think they can deal with setbacks and I expect them to come back.’
Ake also defended Holland teammate Virgil van Dijk after criticism of the central defender’s form. ‘He has been so good for so many years,’ he added. ‘For me, he is still one of the best defenders in the world and he keeps showing that.’
