The phrase ‘Match of the season’ has been thrown around a lot of times throughout the course of this season, but the scintillating clash between Liverpool and Manchester City on Sunday afternoon is certainly more than deserving of such a tag.
It would not be an overstatement to say that the game could be a potentially title deciding one and the eyes of the whole world will be fixated on the clash between the two awakening giants of English football come Sunday afternoon.
There has, understandably, been a lot of hype surrounding the game and it certainly will not disappoint given the extraordinary set of talented attacking players possessed by the two sides.
Probable Liverpool Lineup on Sunday:
Goalkeeper
Simon Mignolet did very well against the physical presence posed by the West Ham Untied side, bar a blatant ambush by Andy Carroll.
Manchester City now pose completely different sort of challenge for Mignolet and it goes without saying that the Belgian stopper will have to be at his best to keep out the ridiculously talented City attack.
Defence
Much like Mignolet, the Liverpool defence also coped with the West Ham side with a solid display. However, City’s style in attack could not be anymore contrasting to that of the Hammers and is much more dangerous as well.
The likes of Sergio Aguero, Alvaro Negredo, David Silva and Yaya Toure can strike fear into the hearts of any opposition defence and the Liverpool backline, which will probably consist of Jon Flanagan, Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho and Glen Johnson, will have to put in a herculean effort to keep the City attack at bay.
Daniel Agger is also in contention after returning from injury and the Danish international will replace Sakho if Rodgers decides to shake things up at the back.
Midfield
Rodgers has elected to go with a diamond formation in midfield against bigger sides and it will be interesting to see how the Northern Irishman lines up his team come Sunday afternoon.
If a diamond formation is elected by Rodgers then Joe Allen or Lucas could come into the line-up in place of either one of Philippe Coutinho or Raheem Sterling.
One thing is for sure though, captain fantastic and Barclays Player of the month Steven Gerrard will be leading his troops once again alongside the tireless Jordan Henderson.
The likes of Victor Moses and Iago Aspas will have to be content with a place on the bench this week as well.
Striker
Against West Ham United, it was proven that even Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge are susceptible to endure the odd off-day. However, the duo still had an impact on the game despite not being at their magnificent best, which says a lot about the two strikers’ quality.
Manchester City are a very difficult team to unlock but if anyone can do it, it would have to be Suarez and Sturridge. The two usually step up when it matters and we can be sure of the fact that the SAS combination will be Liverpool’s biggest threat against City.
(4-1-2-1-2)
Mignolet; Flanagan, Skrtel, Sakho, Johnson; Henderson, Gerrard, Lucas, Coutinho; Suarez, Sturridge
