Premier League 2018/19: Liverpool vs Manchester City

In terms of high profile matchups in the top four leagues of European football, there is arguably no match bigger at the moment than Liverpool vs Manchester City. The narratives surrounding the two sides combined with the quality of players at their disposal and the fact that they are now the two favourites to win the Premier League made this math one not to be missed.

Last season, Manchester City were dominant under their Spanish coach Pep Guardiola, that is until they came face to face against Liverpool and their coach Jurgen Klopp. The intense high pressing system favoured by Klopp seemed to unsettle a City side who had been gaining plaudits all season for their ability to interplay and play out from the back under pressure. This very quickly developed into a pattern when the two sides faced one another and indeed Liverpool were the side to knock City out of the Champions Leauge.

The narrative and story around the two sides last season, however, was not always a purely sporting one with the Manchester City coach being attacked on its way to Anfield to play their Champions League clash. This form of psychological warfare led to a substandard display by City and has caused a sense of mistrust between the two clubs and their supporters since.

All of this led us to the first meeting of the two sides this season at Anfield once again. In his pre-match press conferences, Guardiola had looked to calm the ill feeling between the two clubs as he looked to focus the attention back on to the football and away from the off-field incidents last season. On the other side of the divide, Klopp was also keen to highlight the positive nature of the fixture.

What followed was a fascinating match that resembled a game of chess more than any other single match that I can recall watching. Both coaches looked to adapt and counter the others moves as they tried to find a winning edge.

Team News

The biggest piece of team news from Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool saw the Croatian international central defender Dejan Lovren recalled to the starting line-up in place of right-back Trent-Alexander Arnold. This switch saw Joe Gomez move out of the centre of the defence over to right-back, a move that broke up the impressive partnership that Gomez had been forming with Virgil Van Dijk.

The other major piece of team news saw Naby Keita continue on the bench as Klopp preferred a midfield three of James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Giorgino Wijnaldum.

Liverpool Press

It is no surprise that Liverpool prefer to press high and often, given that their coach Jurgen Klopp all but created a new pressing system in gegenpressing whilst at Borussia Dortmund. This match saw Liverpool switch between a high and medium block as the situation required but the pressing from the front three was always intense as they tried to stop City from building comfortably from the back.

This high pressing system was key in Liverpool disrupting the rhythm which City like to play with last season in the key matches between the two sides.

In the early stages of the match, this high press was especially evident as Liverpool moved immediately to close City down deep in their own half as they looked to quickly assert their control on the match.

It is especially interesting to note the intelligent angle that Sadio Mane is taking us he presses the man in possession of the ball. He is approaching at an angle that covers the passing lane out to Kyle Walker on the right side. With Salah also taking away the possibility of an easy pass back to the goalkeeper and Roberto Firmino covering the pass to the second central defender. The front three for Liverpool are quick and intelligent with their movement and their positioning meaning that they can cover more than one passing angle at once, this makes it doubly difficult for City to play through them.