One of those fixtures you mark on your calendar is finally arriving this weekend, with Liverpool taking on Manchester City at Anfield in the Premier League. A true six-pointer, this game could have big implications in the title race, but in truth with us still in November, a win for either side will by no means decide the title. City have managed to regain their usual form almost, after a difficult spell earlier in the season, but still arent playing the fluent, creative football they have been known for. Liverpool, on the other hand, have been consistently getting results while not playing their best football, but still not playing poorly by any means. Injuries on Man Citys side are likely to play a large role in the game, with Laporte and Ederson big misses, as I will touch on in this analysis.
This tactical analysis will look at how both teams may look to set up, and how both teams will look to maximise their own threat while nullifying the opposition.
Transitions are key to the game
Any game involving high-quality opposition against Liverpool comes down to how well transitions can be stopped. Liverpool are famous for being able to create chances quickly given space or time and Pep Guardiola is well aware of this.
I expect Manchester City to set up in a similar way to how they did in the 0-0 draw at Anfield last October, a game which Jürgen Klopp called the biggest show of respect he and his team have had.
First, lets look at Liverpools ability in transition, in order to justify Citys set up. Liverpools offensive transitions are purposeful, direct and positionally superb and if Citys defensive transitions arent accurate they will get torn apart as they have done at Anfield in previous years. Below is a good example of this, with Georginio Wijnaldum winning the ball and being surrounded by City players. City do a decent job at cutting the passing lanes, but theres no direct pressure on the ball, meaning Wijnaldum has time to chip the ball over the counter-press and into Mohamed Salah.
From there, Salah acts as the pivot of the attack, performing a role Firmino plays in Liverpools build-up usually.
As we can see below, Liverpool are then able to progress up the pitch, as in offensive transitions they usually have their forwards against the backline and available to get in behind. A good ball from Salah is cut out by Ederson, who plays it back out to Salah to score. All of that chaos caused, due to one slightly sloppy counter-press.
We can see a similar situation here below from another game at Anfie
