Liverpool-Man City as good as it gets

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This article was published 09/04/2022 (1611 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It all comes down to this: 90 minutes, for all the marbles.

As Premier League title races go, the ongoing contest between Manchester City and Liverpool is about as good as it gets. They may not be particularly historic rivals, but in the context of the contemporary Premier League they’ve established a duopoly based more on ability and aesthetics than geography and memory.

Of course, there’s always the built-in rancour of the places involved — Manchester and Liverpool, Mancs and Scousers — but this is a conflict whose central dispute is the quality of football played on the pitch. And in that, it’s rather unique. Exceptional, even. Less a fist-fight than a dance-off, and the title to the winner.

All that said, it’s largely thanks to Liverpool that Sunday’s Eastlands showdown (10:30 a.m., DAZN) will likely decide the destination of the trophy.

They didn’t start the season particularly well. A 3-2 loss at West Ham in November left them fourth, having won just two of their previous six. And they wrapped up 2021 with a 1-0 defeat to Leicester. City, meanwhile, were enjoying a sixth week atop the table and a 10-match winning streak. It all looked done and dusted.

It wasn’t, thankfully, and it’s not like City dropped off. But a February setback at home to Spurs and a scoreless draw with Crystal Palace opened the door a crack, and Liverpool, having picked up a head of steam after departing King Power Stadium, kicked it wide open.

Only a point back of the champions prior of kick-off, they can move two points clear with a victory. They’re currently riding a 10-game winning run of their own — something that’s all the more impressive given that they’ve largely gone about it without a contribution from Mohamed Salah.

The 29-year-old Egypt international is struggling through his worst run of form since joining the Reds. He hasn’t scored in successive matches in more than a month, and he brings a single goal from nine in all competitions (club and country) into the most important game of the season, against the Premier League’s stingiest defense.

He is also reported to have turned down Liverpool’s latest contract proposal, despite the figure being what he’d previously suggested. It may be that he simply wants a change of scenery, and that they made an acceptable offer will allow the club to save face should they sell him this summer.

Still, they and he will no doubt hope he regains enough of his touch in time for Sunday. Diogo Jota has three goals since the beginning of March, and both Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz have two, so it’s not like manager Jurgen Klopp will be without his accustomed array of attacking depth when he picks his starting XI. His remains the most prolific side in the English top flight.

In the opposite dugout, Pep Guardiola will be forced to name a lineup with an eye to Wednesday’s Champions League visit to Atletico Madrid — a scenario that will weigh less on Klopp, what with Liverpool’s 3-1 aggregate advantage over Benfica.

That the City boss, and his bosses, would tend to prioritize European success this spring isn’t exactly a revelation, but given that Liverpool have closed what was a 12-point gap in the standings they’ll also want to avoid the ignominy of an epic capitulation.

The absence of injured defender Ruben Dias muddies things further, although a tandem of John Stones and Aymeric Laporte is still one most manager’s would yearn for.

And who wouldn’t covet Kevin De Bruyne?

The Belgian midfielder is currently enjoying a purple patch that makes other purple patches look pink, and that he’s doing it at 30 is all the more impressive. City’s joint-top Premier League goalscorer this season, his mere presence makes his teammates better and lends to the attractiveness of their football.

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Which is really the point of this rivalry.

Not a derby in the traditional sense, Manchester City-Liverpool might be the new Manchester United-Arsenal, only with more of an emphasis on quality than ferocity. It’s perhaps a sort of “fashion derby.” In any event, it’s the central conflict of English football in the 2020s.

And on Sunday, its latest victor could well be crowned.

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Twitter @JerradPeters