Liverpool face Manchester City this weekend in Saturday’s early kick-off: never a friendly kick-off time after the team travel over an international break. The start time is perhaps the most friendly option ahead of the mid-week challenge, though, as Liverpool will go to Paris for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday.
Thus far this season the Reds have struggled to put together good performances when tasked with travel and challenging opposition.
Head coach Arne Slot added
som context to the horrible performance against Brighton before the international break, noting that the Reds were without Alisson and Mohamed Salah, and lost Hugo Ekitiké very early on. Though Alisson remains out, the others are available on Saturday and will be key to Liverpool’s attack.
In his press conference, Slot was asked about team form, as reporters felt the “big games” seemed to bring the best out of this Liverpool side, who will challenge in two quarter finals this week. The Liverpool boss felt the need to remind the room that both matches against Manchester City are the exception to that rule, as the Reds have lost twice in the league against Pep Guardiola’s side when playing headline games in quick succession:
Unfortunately, the one game we are playing tomorrow was probably the worst game we had in the sense of playing the big games, we lost there 3-0. Of course, there were referee decisions involved in that loss that made it harder for us, but they were much better in the first half than us. I think, and I’ve said this many times, why we have shown many times that we are a good team in big games, but also in other games, is that we have very good players and we can play very good football.
It’s been very hard for us and a struggle for us to play the amount of games, so every time after a good game, even this City game [in November] we played three days after we played Real Madrid, and that has been our biggest problem this season: struggling playing, after a good result or a bad result, so many games. That has been the biggest issue for this team and not the games themselves because we have shown that we have quality players and we are a very good team. But the amount of games have been our biggest issue.
That’s why I just said it’s interesting for us to see now where we are after seven or eight or nine months. We’ve played much better against them at home. At Anfield, I don’t think we deserved to lose, especially not after our second-half performance. Unfortunately, there was a big referee decision in that game as well, with the red card [not given] on Mo Salah, that didn’t go in our favor. But now we have to show that if there’s progress, we can also show that in an away game because it’s usually tougher to play away from home than at Anfield.
This issue is something Slot will have to address should Liverpool want cup (or any) success. Manchester City is a challenge regardless of context, but managing this game ahead of an away leg against PSG is a different animal, to say nothing of next weekend’s home match that’s a required win should Liverpool hope to guarantee Champions League football for next season. There are no unimportant games left this season, but Liverpool will need to correct previous mental and physical issues in tough game weeks at last, as there is no other option left.
Reflecting on previous matches, Slot was asked, too, how important the attack — and establishing attacking dominance — will be against Manchester City:
Very important. I’ve felt this season multiple times how important it is to get a lead because that’s what we’ve struggled with this season. It’s much easier if you’re 1-0 up or 2-0 up to keep the lead than being 1-1 or a goal down and you have to change the game. Scoring goals is vital in football, as we all know, and it helps you in many aspects – that’s why I’m so happy Alex [Isak] is back. [In the] away game we scored from a set-piece, that really helps in every game of football [but] especially in the big games. It’s so important that you have a positive set-piece balance, which we didn’t have when we faced them at the Etihad this season because they scored from a set-piece… by the way, we scored as well but that was disallowed, so that makes it more difficult.
The first half at Anfield, City were dominating ball possession but you could also change the question and say how impressive was it that you dominated ball possession in the second half? Because how many teams can dominate ball possession against Man City throughout the last 10 years? So, that’s what I mean with a big step forward compared to the game we played at the Etihad, but now we have to show it as well in their stadium, which is always more difficult than having 60,000 people at Anfield that are helping you out if you are pressing and giving you the energy you need if you face City. The good thing is it’s an FA Cup tie, so we will have more fans than we usually have in an away game – and as we know from our fans, they will be loud. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they would even be louder than the fans of City.
Competing for something in April and May is what most of us hope for to define a successful or enjoyable season, but this feels very make-or-break for the Reds: uneven form despite heightened promise makes this week feel very much like the defining one for the season. Of course, should Liverpool show us all what we know this side is capable of, they will have earned simply more defining weeks to come. Buckle up.
