Liverpool vs Manchester City – Match Preview

This is the final Premier League fixture of 2016 and in fairness it does not get a whole lot better than this. Before revelers celebrate the end of a crazy year later on Tonight there is still the small matter of Liverpool playing host to Manchester City at Anfield.

Not only does this game take on a high magnitude due to the two men in charge of their respective clubs and for those you living under a rock that’s messers Klopp and Guardiola but the result is going to put a dent in at least one of these two sides respective title chasing tilt.

With Chelsea beating all in front of them there is the very distinct possibility that they could be 9 and 10 points clear of Liverpool and Manchester City before the game kicks off this evening and with the fact that both teams cannot win this game so points will have to be dropped it means the New Year Plans of one or perhaps even both of these teams will be scuppered.

If you are a Chelsea fan then the ideal result would be a Draw with both teams dropping behind but you ask any Liverpool or Manchester supporter and the only thing on their mind going into this game is a win, it is as simple as that.

But earning all three points is certainly not going to an easy task for either Liverpool or Manchester City. Both teams come into this game on the back of a 3 game successive winning streak so that’s another thing that at least one of these two sides will be saying goodbye to later this Evening.

Tuesday Evening saw Liverpool come from behind when facing Stoke at Anfield. Jonathan Walters’ header gave them an early scare but they then went on to score 4 unanswered goals to snatch 2nd place back from Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Once again Adam Lallana was at the heart of everything that Liverpool created with both he and Roberto Firmino getting on the scoresheet which capped off a scintilating performance from the pair of them. In a week where Firmino had made the headlines for matters off the pitch, Liverpool fans would have been pleased to see it wasn’t to the detriment to matters on it.

For the second game in succession Daniel Sturridge came off the bench to grab a goal of his own. Perhaps the goal against Stoke did not quite carry the same importance as the Merseyside derby winner but it does push him closer to inclusion from the start against his boyhood club.

That position may well be up for grabs for Liverpool but there is absolutely no doubt who will be leading the line for Manchester City. Sergio Ageuro’s was handed a 4 match ban after that wild lunge on Chelsea’s David Luiz at the start of December. A ‘tackle’ borne out of frustration doesn’t excuse the recklessness and Aguero was handed his second Red Card of this campaign.

With Aguero sitting out the last 4 Manchester City matches he is fit and raring to go for the trip to Anfield and will look continue City’s winning momentum. After a 4-2 drubbing away to Leicester on December 3rd it’s been nothing but wins for Pep Guardiola’s men.

The question asked was how much City were going to miss Aguero during his suspension and the answer to that was not all that much. To get 9 points from a possible 12 would be viewed as a decent return in any other season but with Chelsea hitting the maximum that still isn’t good enough.

Boxing Day saw them eventually brush past Hull at The KCom Stadium with 3 late goals. Mike Phelan’s side did well to hold out for the first 70 minutes but once City finally got their noses in front then The Tigers resolve had broken and City found the extra gears to secure all three points.

For their supposed defensive frailties City have only conceded once in their last three outings. Theo Walcott has been the only man to breach Claudio Bravo’s net in the last 270 minutes action. That early goal was as good as it got for The Gunners a fortnight or so ago.

With John Stones only lasting 18 minutes in City’s Boxing Day win there will be big question marks as to whether or not the former Everton defender makes a return to Merseyside later on. If he doesn’t then there will be even greater question marks over the strength of their back four.

Alexsandar Kolarov was the man who replaced Stones on Monday but the thought of a partnership between him and Nicolas Otamendi will have Liverpool fans licking their lips in excitement. That is certainly a partnership that can be got at and Liverpool certainly have the players in which to do so.

Liverpool have scored 45 times in their first 18 league games of the season, an average of 2.5 per game and a league high so there is no questioning their attacking exploits but they themselves have defensive deficiencies of their own.

It’s not perhaps the same problem that City are having to deal with but there is still too much talk about who starts in goal for the club. It’s perhaps no coincidence that Simon Mignolet’s return to the starting eleven has bought a run of three wins.

But he still lacks the air of confidence that a top class keeper in this league needs. If you were to compare him to someone such as David De Gea or Hugo Lloris then he is still a notch short in the Premier League pecking order. But with Loris Karius as the backup then the phrase of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ probably rings true.

So the big question now is who can go on to win this all important encounter. For me I think Liverpool have the slight edge only because their defence is more stable than that of City’s. This will certainly be an open game and with that it should bring goals.

Ageuro may be back but you get that feeling that his defence will let him down where as Liverpool are more a side where the sum is greater than it’s parts. I’ll go for both teams to score and fireworks at Anfield as Liverpool end the year with an all important victory.