The_Guardian_-_2016-12-29

imming with the attacking verve that has marked them out as genuine title-challengers. Yet the
Catalan may also have taken encouragement from the manner in which Stoke opened the scoring after
12 minutes, with Jonathan Walters’ near-post header exposing the frailties which, for all Liverpool’s
defensive improvements under Klopp, continue to undermine them. Uncertainty in the area and – you
guessed it – a goalkeeping error.
Overall Liverpool defended well against Stoke but Sergio Agüero, available for Saturday’s encounter
having served a four-game suspension, will fancy his chances of piercing the backline, as no doubt
will Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, the rejuvenated Yaya Touré and the returning Raheem Sterling.
But so, too, will Liverpool’s own attackers, partly because City have their own defensive issues and
partly because they themselves are in such fine form. The win against Stoke took them to 45 Premier
League goals for the season, six more than City from the same number of games played. The
Merseyside club have also scored four or more goals at Anfield on four occasions and created
enough opportunities against Stoke to surpass the 6-1 spanking they handed out to Watford in early
November.
In a little over 14 months in charge Klopp has formed an outstandingly menacing unit, full of
relentless and clever movement. Indeed it is telling that Daniel Sturridge, who alongside Luis Suárez
was so crucial to Liverpool’s last title charge, in 2013-14, had to wait until the 70th minute of
Tuesday’s match to score his first league goal of the season. His barren spell has gone relatively
unnoticed as Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino, Adam Lallana and others in red have run riot.
Yaya Touré, right, celebrates with David Silva after scoring in Manchester City’s 3-0 victory over
Hull City on Boxing Day Photograph: Matt McNulty/JMP/Rex/Shutterstock
Liverpool will attack City, City will attack Liverpool, both defences will concede and the noise will
be close to deafening. Cue, the sceptics will say, a drab goalless draw and that cannot be ruled out
given these sides will be playing their 22nd and 28th matches of the season respectively, with both
doing most of the passing, most of the pressing and most of the running in those encounters. Tiredness
may well kick in and in that regard it was notable how sluggish City looked before scoring three
times late on in their 3-0 win at Hull on Boxing Day. Ultimately, however, they got the job done to
make it three successive wins for a side who appeared to be slipping into full-crisis mode when they
lost 4-2 amid a shower of shambolic defending at Leicester on 10 December.
That fightback has been matched by Liverpool following their own troubling spell earlier in the
month, when they lost 4-3 at Bournemouth and drew 2-2 with West Ham United in the space of seven
days. Since then Klopp’s men have breezed past Middlesbrough, won the Merseyside derby in
deserved and dramatic style and, on Tuesday, recovered handsomely from an early setback. Now