1Time to lay Anfield jinx?
For those City fans of a certain age, a trip to Anfield will undoubtedly result in a loud exhale.
Two wins in 62 years is just about as bad as it gets, with Anfield proving a graveyard for countless City teams over the years.
Our last win there was 2003; prior to that it was 1981. You have to go back to 1956 thereafter...
But all runs come to an end.
City couldn’t buy a win at Old Trafford or away to Arsenal for more than 30 years apiece, but all that has changed in recent seasons and neither ground is one the Blues fear anymore.
It’s about time the trip to face Liverpool became a happier day out for the travelling Blues – and this Sunday would be the perfect start.
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2 Too early to be a definitive result - whoever wins
Whatever happens at Anfield – a City win, draw or Liverpool triumph – it won’t decide the title.
We’re only seven games into the campaign and after this game, there will still be 30 matches to play.
So, while a City win will give the champions a bit of breathing space, there are still many games to come and plenty of hard work ahead.
3Blues still hurting from last season
The one blemish on City’s Centurions season was a quarter-final Champions League exit to Liverpool.
It is no exaggeration to say that, had certain decisions in the tie gone the Blues’ way, it could have been a different story.
There was also a horror spell in the Anfield Premier League clash where City shipped three goals in nine second-half minutes to go 4-1 down before a late rally almost snatched an unlikely point.
The Blues will go out on Sunday with a point to prove – it won’t be easy – Liverpool are as strong as they have been for many years, but the Merseysiders will have to be at their best to overcome a side desperate to erase that difficult week last April.
4Selection surprises?
One thing is for certain – when Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp go head-to-head, two of the best coaches in the world are pitting their wits against one another.
It’s an evolving rivalry because each time their teams meet, each boss is trying to outthink the other.
City know that in three games last season, Liverpool came out on top and Pep will have been thinking about what happened in those games and where his team went wrong.
Klopp, too, will be aiming to second-guess what might happen and how the Blues might line up.
Is it too soon for Kevin De Bruyne to return?
Will Benjamin Mendy start?
Will Sergio get the nod or Gabriel Jesus?
What will be the central defensive partnership be?
Lost of questions and we won’t know the answers until one hour before kick-off on Sunday – and then there’s the small matter of the formation and tactics.
The eyes of the football world will be on this game on Sunday – it should be a thrilling contest between two teams committed to play attacking football.
