ANOTHER clash of the titans takes place this Sunday when Liverpool host Premier League champions Manchester City at Anfield.
This is a rivalry that has begun to emerge over the past few seasons since the rise of the Reds under Jurgen Klopp as the only palpable challengers to Pep Guardiola’s well-oiled leviathan.
In the previous campaign, the pair of giants in English football played out two of the most memorable league games in recent years, drawing 2-2 twice while Manchester City eventually claimed their sixth crown.
Whereas last season, merely a point separated Liverpool and Man City, the circumstances are extremely different this time round.
Of course, Guardiola will want to get one over on his long-term nemesis by taking all three points, something City have managed to do just once in 20 seasons despite the Manchester club’s domestic dominance over the past decade.
However, the game means much more for the six-time Champions League winners.
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Having picked up merely two victories all season in England’s top flight in the 2022/23 campaign and sitting in tenth place, Klopp is unprecedentedly staring down the barrel of a loaded gun.
Having already conceded that Liverpool were not in a title race just eight games into the season, it is yet to be seen how many more poor results the board will allow the German to have before pulling the trigger.
Taking all three points would be a huge coup for the Merseyside club to ease pressure on the manager but also to gain some ground on their top-four rivals.
Here’s where the match between Liverpool and City will be decided:
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STOPPING HAALAND
Let’s start with the most obvious – Erling Haaland. The Norwegian centre-forward is breaking all kinds of records, making the Premier League look like a tax-free haven for the Bundesliga.
After scoring goal 19 of the season last weekend at home to a struggling Southampton, Haaland was rested by Guardiola for City’s midweek European bout in Copenhagen. In what was a goalless draw against the Danish champions, Haaland’s keen eye for goal was missed.
Haaland is massively outperforming his xG of 13.25, proving just how deadly he is in front of goal.
Now, with a full week of rest, the 22-year-old will be like an uncaged lion, ready to prey on the sheepish defence of Liverpool which has leaked 19 goals in all competitions thus far.
Normally, Virgil van Dijk versus the most in-form striker in world football would leave the mouths of neutrals watering but the Dutchman has looked out of sorts recently.
This battle between van Dijk and Haaland will be instrumental in deciding the outcome of this fixture. If Liverpool’s star defender can get to grips with Haaland, it will hamper Man City’s potency up front.
Virgil van Dijk, for his frailties this season, is still covering quite a large volume of the pitch, especially down the left half and in higher areas too.
However, preventing Europe’s most prolific goalscorer from doing the one thing he is best at is much easier in theory than reality.
The most effective way to defend against Haaland, which may still be futile, is to get touch-tight. A defender can’t let him out of their sights. Not only is the Norway international a wonderful finisher, but his movement is second to none.
Last weekend, as City disposed of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s struggling Saints, Southampton’s Mohammed Salisu was lured into a false sense of security. The centre-back was sticking tight to Haaland, keeping Guardiola’s dangerman in his sights while the hosts were building an attack out wide.
Within a split second, the ex-Borussia Dortmund star recognised a lapse in Salisu’s concentration and pounced, placing the ball home.
Salisu backed away briefly to stay in line with his central defensive partner. This was all Haaland needed. The striker dipped inside before darting towards the near-post in anticipation of the cross and, of course, Haaland’s left-footed shot caressed the Etihad net.
Even if a defender loses sight of the goal machine for a moment, Haaland can inflict immense damage. Van Dijk will need to ensure that he is always aware of the striker’s positioning in order to read the situation and get his body orientation correct.
In the Community Shield, before the 2022/23 campaign kicked-off, Liverpool’s backline, and van Dijk in particular, dealt with Haaland for the entirety of the 90 minutes.
Van Dijk is holding an ideal body orientation, facing Haaland with a frontward stance, watching his every move. Haaland failed to score in the Community Shield.
While City’s frontman was slightly rusty and was making his debut in English football during the clash of the champions, the Reds proved that preventing the potent number ‘9’ from scoring is actually possible.
However, that was arguably the last time the Dutchman looked like his former self. Van Dijk now seems to be a shadow of the player he was last season and even prior to the horrific injury suffered in the Merseyside derby in 2020.
Excellent body posture and expert reading of the game have always been some of the 31-year-old’s greatest qualities when he was at the peak of his powers.
Now, van Dijk seems to be making uncharacteristic errors in a backline desperately struggling for clean sheets, having picked up merely three in all competitions this season.
No goal exemplified this more than Mohammed Kudus’ superb strike in Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Ajax a few weeks back in Europe.
Van Dijk backtracked, expecting a ball across the face of goal. Kudus quickly dropped to latch onto the cut-back from Steven Berghuis which left the Liverpool defender flat-footed.
Having been fooled by the direction of the cut-back cross, van Dijk was caught in no man’s land. Getting nowhere near the Ghanian centre-forward, Kudus was free to turn unscathed before smashing the ball in high at the near post.
Errors like this cannot happen against Haaland, otherwise the damage will be irreparable.
Van Dijk must constantly get tight to City’s apex predator and make sure to cut out his runs as he did in the Community Shield back in July.
If the £75 million man is busy, it is necessary that he cooperates with his defensive partner to pass over the responsibility, but the bottom line is that Haaland must be marked.
LIVERPOOL'S HIGH LINE
Throughout his tenure at Anfield, Klopp has always deployed a high defensive line. This is one of the tactician’s non-negotiables within his philosophy. Mainz also used a high line in Klopp’s early days in management, as did Borussia Dortmund to great success.
Liverpool have been no exception. The reason why the backline push so far up the pitch is for counterpressing situations. When possession is lost, the players are within close proximity to one another which allows them to hunt the ball down as a pack to win it back.
Basically, by reclaiming the ball in the opponent’s half closer to the goal, the other side can’t hurt the Reds at the opposite end of the field.
This requires obscene levels of coordination and energy. Unfortunately, these are two attributes missing from Liverpool’s defensive play this season.
The FA Cup champions’ ability to earn the ball straight back after losing it has been practically extinguished in this campaign.
The problem with counterpressing is that, once the initial hunt for the ball has failed, the centre-backs are left exposed.
Mixed with a high line and defenders who aren’t blessed for pace, a lacklustre ‘gegenpressing’ structure is a recipe for disaster. Crystal Palace proved this during the second game of the season.
After Palace cleared the ball out of their own area, it fell to Eberechi Eze who dribbled through the initial counterpress from two Liverpool players before slipping Wilfried Zaha in behind the hosts’ high backline.
Liverpool’s defenders got nowhere near Zaha. The Ivorian’s pace was ruthless in transition and only the goalkeeper could stop what was to be a sumptuous counterattack by the Eagles. He didn’t.
The exploitation of Liverpool’s high line has been a common feature of the goals that Klopp’s side have conceded.
Following the disappointing 1-1 draw with Patrick Vieira’s Palace at Anfield, the Reds tripped to Old Trafford to face bitter rivals Manchester United.
Being heavy favourites to take all three points, given United’s harrowing start to the campaign, many believe this would be a walk in the park for Liverpool.
However, receding from his typical principles, Erik ten Hag took a much more pragmatic approach to the game, sitting deep in a lower block and hitting Liverpool on the break.
Again, the 19-time league champions were killed in the end from the pace of Marcus Rashford running in behind the two centre-backs, following a failed period of counterpressing.
Again, after a failure to control the ball from van Dijk, Liverpool failed to recoup possession. In an instant, Anthony Martial glided the ball through to Rashford, killing the two centre-backs and handing Man United three unprecedented points.
On Wednesday, as Liverpool humiliated a ghastly Rangers, Klopp went with Ibrahima Konate alongside van Dijk in place of the injured Joel Matip.
Konate certainly wasn’t perfect, and was largely at fault for Rangers’ only goal of the game early in the first half.
However, against Manchester City, the France international could be the perfect option for Klopp to deal with the speed of Haaland, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez or whomever else may be given the nod from Pep.
Despite still being rather rough around the edges, Konate’s speed could be of great significance for Liverpool to deal with balls in behind their high line when the initial counterpressing fails as this will certainly be an area that City will look to exploit, especially using the pinpoint accuracy of Kevin de Bruyne’s threaded through passes.
West Ham’s defensive line was positioned high up the pitch. Once de Bruyne received the ball, Haaland began his run in behind. The Hammers attempted to drop deep to catch Haaland, but the damage was already done.
SWITCHES OF PLAY
So far, the main areas where Manchester City can exploit a wounded Liverpool have been established.
Now, let’s take a look at where the hosts can cause damage to their recent rivals, by focusing on last season’s memorable 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
While Virgil van Dijk may hold the key to locking up Haaland and hence stifling City’s attacking prowess, the Netherlands international may also be instrumental in how Liverpool can break down the joint-best defence in the Premier League.
When the Reds have possession of the ball in a structured positional attack and are attempting to break down the opposition’s defensive block, typically situated in the middle or final third of the pitch, van Dijk’s accurate switches are a wonderful asset.
From Van Dijk’s pass map this season, it is evident how many long passes to the final third are present, showing the centre-back’s incredible range.
Van Dijk is one of the greatest ball-playing central defenders in world football. When his right leg swings back like a golf club to spray the ball out to one of the highly-positioned fullbacks on the flanks or else to one of the inside forwards, opposition defences tremble.
In the 2-2 draw last season, Liverpool were struggling to get through City during the first half. After the interval, the Anfield club were playing more direct from the back, looking to make the game rougher for their opponents, using van Dijk’s fabulous passing range.
Within minutes, Klopp’s side were back level which all stemmed from the experienced defender’s ability to ping the ball accurately to his teammates in higher areas.
Van Dijk switched the ball out to Trent Alexander-Arnold. Despite not winning the first contact, Liverpool were able to recover the second ball, disorganising City’s defensive unit, before slipping Sadio Mane through on goal to score.
From there, Liverpool won the second ball and quickly attacked a ruptured and shell-shocked City defence to set Mane through on goal to equalise.
Once again, this Sunday, van Dijk’s ball-playing strengths to switch the play out to the flanks will be vital for Liverpool to break down City.
Guardiola’s men are normally really difficult to play through on the deck so taking a more route-one option to create mini-transitions after winning the second ball could be the best way to go for Liverpool.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
Winning for Manchester City would all but reaffirm that they are the best side in English football. While Liverpool have been poor, last season’s runners-up have lost just twice in the league and are still unbeaten at home.
Taking all three points at Anfield is still no easy feat and will take a blend of composure, quality, cooperation and tactical intelligence to put Liverpool to the sword inside what has been a fortress under Klopp.
For the home team, a defeat would continue to mount pressure on Klopp and his underperforming side, showing that back-to-back victories over a poor Rangers team have not papered over the cracks within the set-up.
However, a win could be huge for Liverpool to get back on track. Despite their struggles this season, it doesn’t seem as though the wheels have fallen off but that the engine has run out of steam. Perhaps beating Manchester City could give the banjaxed vehicle a kick-start when it is needed most.
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