In what has been the match of the season in the Premier League for the last couple of seasons, Liverpool play host to Manchester City once again. A lot is at stake as usual as both the sides are challenging for the league title but with a twist. Liverpool are trailing the league leaders Manchester City by seven points and Klopp will want to decrease the gap as soon as possible with a win at the famous Anfield.
Liverpool have been poor at home as their 68-game unbeaten streak came to an end after consecutive defeats at home in the Premier League. The defending champions have lost their way a bit and look for inspiration to get back in the title race. Klopp will look to get a massive win against Manchester City and start a comeback trail in their hope of defending the Premier League title.
Let us now have a look at how Jurgen Klopp might set his Liverpool side up against Manchester City in the Premier League.
THE 4-3-3
The 4-3-3 has been very successful for Liverpool under the Klopp era, especially against Pep’s Manchester City in the past couple of seasons in the Premier League. But this time it will be different for Klopp as most of his star players are injured and his side haven’t been performing well recently. But Liverpool will surely try their best to beat Manchester City with Mo Salah as Liverpool’s best chance to win the game.
The midfield battle against City will be key for Liverpool and Thiago needs to play better than what he has been since joining the Reds. Wijnaldum and Curtis Jones will be expected to play alongside Thiago in the box-to-box roles. James Milner has played in the position in the last couple of games but his ageing legs might not be able to sustain the City pressure.
The Liverpool front-line has been in poor form even though Salah has scored a lot of goals this season in the league. Shaqiri and Bobby Firmino need to be at their A-game against City if the Reds want to have any chance of winning the game.
THE 4-2-3-1
The 4-2-3-1 is another system that Klopp has used to great effect at Liverpool and it might be the best system to play against Manchester City. The midfield double-pivot will be a good option against the Cityzens as they tend to flood the midfield and play around their opposition. Wijnaldum and Thiago complement each other’s qualities and should work well in tandem and help the Reds side and might steer them to a surprising victory against the league leaders.
The Liverpool defence will have to be resilient throughout the 90 minutes to have any chance of taking three points from the game. The full-backs, Robertson and Alexander-Arnold need to exploit City’s weakness in the same area and use it as much as possible. Though the tide isn’t in Liverpool’s favour, the Reds will walk into the game thinking that it will be possible for them to topple Manchester City.
