Klopp running out of excuses as Liverpool visit Man City

Liverpool travel to Manchester on Saturday evening for a game against Manchester City which will test both City's title credentials and the depth of Jurgen Klopp's impact since arriving at Anfield six weeks ago.

The German's first loss in England came directly before the international break when the Reds were shown up at home by Crystal Palace, and he will be wary of the possibility of getting into a losing habit with a second successive defeat before Thursday's crunch Europa League game against Bordeaux.

Defeat at the Etihad could see the club slide into the bottom half of the table, sitting lower than they did when Brendan Rodgers was fired.

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And while Klopp's impact at Anfield has been hailed as a positive one, his side have won only one of his four Premier League games in charge.

Injuries have played some part in Klopp's slow start at Anfield. He has not been able to call on the likes of Christian Benteke, Roberto Firmino, James Milner, Daniel Sturridge, Mamadou Sakho, Jordon Ibe and captain Jordan Henderson for at least part of his reign thus far, but he's beginning to get a number of his key players back.

Saturday's game will come too soon for Sturridge, however. He has only just shaken off the knee injury he sustained in Klopp's first week at Anfield and although the manager is keen to have him in the matchday squad he is short of match fitness.

Sakho will also miss out, with Dejan Lovren filling in at the back.

But there is better news for Benteke, Firmino, former City player Milner and Ibe, who are all available and raring to go, leaving Klopp with an ever-decreasing list of excuses if his side underperforms once again.

On the other side of the ball, Manuel Pellegrini has seen Sergio Aguero and David Silva return to full training this week after more than a month on the sidelines. Both were expected to be eased back into first team action via substitute appearances, but Wilfried Bony's absence and Aguero's promising return to training mean that the Argentine may feature from the start.

City failed to score against Aston Villa in their last game before the international break, but have shown an ability to bounce back strongly from poor performances this season. Their last two disappointing games - the defeat to Tottenham and the stalemate against Manchester United - were followed by massive wins in their next domestic matches, including the 6-1 rout of Newcastle in October.

Klopp has admitted that he has no idea who will feature for City, reports the Daily Mirror. And he joked that city's training facilities must be "deep in a forest" because of the amount of secrecy surrounding their preparations.

"It makes it interesting," he said. "We are prepared to play against them with all these players or without these players. We will be prepared."

The one City player who will concern Liverpool fans the most is Raheem Sterling, who comes up against his former employers for the first time since demanding a move away from Anfield and joining City for £49m in the summer. The travelling Liverpool faithful are sure to make their feelings known if Sterling does feature.

By the time the game kicks off City could be the team under the most pressure. Depending on results earlier in the day the Premier League favourites could find themselves as low as fourth in the table three points behind in-form title rivals Arsenal, who travel to West Brom in one of six 3pm kick-offs.

But the omens are good for City. Liverpool have to go back to 2008 for their last league win at the Etihad, when Dirk Kuyt's injury time winner saw them complete a storming comeback having been 2-0 down at half-time.