Anticipation is building ahead of a massive title showdown between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad on Thursday night.
The Premier League has seen plenty of “captivating two-club fights between great sides comprised of silk and steel”, says Paul Hayward of the Daily Telegraph. “But none has surpassed the pure footballing quality of this season’s chariot race between Manchester City and Liverpool.
“Seriously, there has never been a top of the table game like this in January, between one side on the up and another clinging to power; between two symphonic styles, equal in positivity and bravery but different in application.”
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Victory for Jurgen Klopp’s league leaders Liverpool could give them an irreversible edge, but a win for the defending champions will revive their hopes of catching the Reds, he says.
It’s Liverpool, which is currently seven points clear of City, who must adapt to their status as favourites, says Dominic King of the Daily Mail.
“History is laced with episodes of leaders faltering in the Premier League,” he says, recalling the capitulation of Newcastle in 1996 and Arsenal’s implosion in 2003.
“As Liverpool head to the Etihad Stadium on Thursday – for the campaign's biggest game to date – many can see a similar tale unfolding.
“Why wouldn't they? City are a magnificent side and a seven-point gap with 17 matches to go is not beyond them.
“They would not be out of the reckoning, either, if they were to lose to Liverpool. When your rivals have class – as City do – it is dangerous to assume anything.”
Liverpool may be unbeaten this season, but City are hardly floundering and Pep Guardiola is not exactly short of talent.
“Even now, as he wrestles with the challenge of trying to inflict Liverpool’s first Premier League defeat of the season, it is doubtful that there are too many players in Jurgen Klopp’s squad whom Guardiola would covet over his own,” says Oliver Kay of The Times.
But left back is a position that could be crucial and this illustrates the current difference between the two sides. While Guardiola is short of options as Benjamin Mendy is injured and Fabian Delph is suspended, Liverpool are revelling in the form of their full back Andy Robertson, whose “outstanding form over the past 12 months has been such a factor in Liverpool’s surge first to the Champions League final and now to the top of the Premier League”.
Kay writes: “Mendy’s injury leaves a hole that will not be filled easily. Robertson, by contrast, looks a perfect fit.”
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