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HHow do you lose a Premier League title? Slowly and then all at once. This could be the day Manchester City left Liverpool adrift in the title race, but they will need to win a league match at Anfield for the first time since May 2003.
City have won their last 13 matches in all competitions and have kept six consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League. Central defensive pair John Stones and Ruben Dias have conceded just once in the 11 Premier League games they have started together. Ilkay Gundogan has enjoyed his best season at the club, acting as a bridge in the midfield supporting Rodri in position number 6 and bringing City’s attacking players together. City have been winning without Sergio Agüero and Kevin De Bruyne, who are absent again today, and if there is any doubt it is the lack of a fit forward.
Liverpool shot blanks at home to Brighton and Burnley, but there will surely be more room and opportunities to fight back today despite City’s more pragmatic approach these days. It remains to be seen if Klopp will use January signings like Ben Davies or Ozan Kabak in center midfield today to allow Jordan Henderson to play in central midfield. Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah will start again together and must show the sharpness they showed in Tottenham and West Ham.
In his show notes, Klopp says: “There will certainly be a lot of focus on the contrasting forms that go into this game. The city is flying. We have had diverse fortunes. It is what it is and it won’t matter when the whistle blows and the ball starts rolling.
“The key message for us today is to simply attack the contest with everything we have. The only team to worry about and focus on is ourselves. Focus on being us. That has always been enough for me and always will be with these amazing men. “
Full team news on the way.
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