What is likely to be the final English league meeting between Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, it will have a familiar feel to it — a titanic clash at the top of the Premier League that could go some way to deciding the title. Arsenal might disagree but most neutral viewers would agree that if there is a winner between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield then they will find themselves the favorites to be lifting the title in May.
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Both sides head to Merseyside in rich veins of form and though neither squad is entirely free from injury concerns, City in particular have that intimidating look to them that so often emerges in the spring months. Form in this particular clash favors Liverpool, however, with the Reds having lost only one of their last 20 home league games against City and even that came when injuries had turned Klopp’s men into a shadow of themselves at full strength. With Mohamed Salah back, they should put up a far stiffer fight. Here is how you can watch the match and what you need to know as both teams hope to jump Arsenal and move into first:
Viewing information
- Date: Sunday, March 10 | Time: 10:45 a.m. ET
- Location: Etihad Stadium — Manchester, United Kingdom
- TV: USA | Stream: Fubo (Try for free)
- Odds: Liverpool +175; Draw +260; Manchester City +238
Storylines
Liverpool: Though paths may yet converge in the FA Cup, at the moment Sunday is all set to be the final encounter between Klopp and Guardiola, the end of a second act in a rivalry that has defined first German football and then English. Unlike many of the great rivalries in England — Don Revie and Brian Clough, Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson, Rafael Benitez and Jose Mourinho — the defining trait of this tussle for dominance has been the enduring respect between both parties.
That extends to what may be the last meeting before Klopp departs Anfield, the German using his pre-match press conference to insist that it would be an impossible job for whoever succeeds Guardiola at City, far harder than it will be for the next Liverpool boss. Klopp and Guardiola might be too focused on their work to have built a deep friendship but the former did at least hint at conversations between the two during the pandemic, when both lost their mothers. “He called and we had a talk, but I can’t tell you what we said to each other,” said Klopp. “I know things you would love to know!”
Manchester City: Their meeting on Sunday gives Guardiola a chance to address a head-to-head record that notably does not favor a coach who has had some of world football’s most expensively assembled squads to call on. In 29 meetings between these two teams, Guardiola has won 11. Klopp has won 12 with Anfield proving to be a powerful weapon in his arsenal when these two face off. His City side have not won in front of a crowd at the ground since 2003, back when Guardiola was in the twilight of his playing career.
Asked what it is that makes the ground such a challenge for him, Guardiola said: “The crowd of course but especially the quality of the team. It has always been nice and we accept the challenge.”
Prediction
There is precious little to separate these two and the advantages that City have on the pitch have to be set against the power that Anfield can inject Liverpool with. Pick: Liverpool 2, Manchester City 2
