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Key events
All eyes on Marmoush and Salah in Egypt.
Only two attackers for Liverpool in Salah and Diaz? NO DARWIN? No Jota, who was responsible for a couple of misses at Villa Park too. Both are on the bench.
Ilkay Gundogan and the injured John Stones are out, Gundo benched, Stones on the long-term list. Surprise recall for Kevin De Bruyne as Nathan Ake and Jeremy Doku come in.
Odd, considering these comments:
“But maybe for the demands, the way we now need to play because of the absences or strengths that we have and physicality and many things, we need a game of more control and not up and down. Don’t tell me why. It’s not personal, I decide the decisions, that’s all, no more than that…”
Jamie Carragher looked a bit twitchy when he and Micah Richards were bantering earlier. His socials suggest his comments were taken out of context. Pep was fuming. All fuel to the fire.
Haaland’s knee problem looked nasty last week – but City have been tight-lipped.
The teams – No Haaland
Manchester City: Ederson, Lewis, Khusanov, Ake, Gvardiol, Nico, De Bruyne (C), Savinho, Foden, Doku, Marmoush. Subs: Ortega Moreno, Dias, Kovacic, Grealish, Gundogan, Bernardo, Reis, Nunes, McAtee
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Jones, Diaz, Salah. Subs: Kelleher, Quansah, Tsimikas, Endo, Nunez, Chiesa, Gakpo, Elliott, Jota.
Preamble
There we were, now here we are, all this confusion: which Manchester City team will Liverpool face? The team they came to fear and respect over so many years? Or the fallible, panicky group that was humiliated in Madrid? Mind, which Liverpool team do we see today? There’s been signs of a wobble, Arne Slot not looking nearly so cool. Liverpool aim for the title, City look to the top five but despite those varying targets, it’s still key to how the season ends.
Kick-off at 4.30pm. Join me.
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