Liverpool vs Manchester City LIVE: Latest team news, line-ups and more ahead of Premier League title clash

Manchester City’s Anfield record is notoriously poor. City have won just once at Anfield in front of a crowd since 1981, when Nicolas Anelka scored a double 21 years ago. They did triumph there 4-1 behind closed doors in 2021 but the atmosphere will be completely different this weekend.

City defender Akanji said: “It definitely will be massive. The winner will go to the top of the league. I don’t want to talk about the title race but it would be a big win for us.

Manuel Akanji feels it is about time City put an end to their Anfield hoodoo. “We haven’t done the best there in the past – but why not change it this weekend?” he said.

“We know how hard it is but we’ll go there and try to get the three points like we always do. I’ve only played there once – we lost there 1-0 – but it’s a really good stadium, the atmosphere is great and the team is one of the best and that’s what makes it difficult.

“But in the end we just focus on us, even if the crowd is pushing them. If we put on the type of performance we want then I think we can win the game.”

Liverpool had planned to have Ibrahima Konate alongside Van Dijk to help manage the free-scoring Norwegian, but saw their plans dented when the former was injured in Thursday’s Europa League thrashing of Sparta Prague.

While awaiting the result of scans Klopp did not appear optimistic about Konate’s chances, but made it clear he would have no qualms throwing rookie Jarrell Quansah into the biggest game of his career if required.

A year ago the 21-year-old was lining up against Forest Green during a loan spell at Bristol Rovers but circumstances have allowed him to progress further and faster than anyone expected. Injuries across the backline thrust him up the pecking order and his response has earned the manager’s trust.

“Massive, massive development. He just stepped up,” said Klopp. “He came back (from Rovers) and it wasn’t that everybody in the club was saying, ‘yeah, he will be the next one’. We knew he is a real talent, we knew he has massive strength, especially on the ball, stuff like this. But how will he deal with the next-quality Premier League strikers? How is that physicality?

“We thought the situation in the squad is right to do so. If you want (he was) centre-half number five in that moment. But he showed immediately that he wants to be in the team in each session and it’s a joy, a pure joy, to have him.”

Jurgen Klopp has stressed Liverpool vs Man City is more than Virgil van Dijk vs Erling Haaland – the best defender in the Premier League against its best striker.

“Football doesn’t work like that any more. If Haaland is not scoring that is good but they have other options to do that,” he said.

“If Virgil van Dijk would be able to nullify Haaland then (Phil) Foden fires the ball in from 30 yards into the far corner, or Kevin De Bruyne does exactly the same, or Rodri is arriving, or Bernardo Silva is doing it.

“I don’t think for a second like that, that they are playing against each other. Yes, there are moments it definitely will happen, 100 per cent, and hopefully we will be at the better end that, but this football game is about so many aspects.

“When you watch the movement of Erling Haaland he is incredibly smart putting himself in positions. He’s smart enough not to all of the time be around the one he might consider the best one.”

Or is it Arsenal? It depends on whether Mikel Arteta’s side learnt their lesson from last season. The Gunners won just three of their final nine Premier League games last year, including a four-game winless run, as they fell away in the title race.

They cannot afford a repeat of that and it will start, you would think, with their return to the Etihad on 31 March. Arsenal have lost eight in a row away to Manchester City and their last win came in January 2015, so even a draw there would be a huge boost ahead of April and May.

There, Arsenal will also have to face tricky games against Aston Villa and Tottenham – their trip across North London in late April should be an epic. Visits to Roberto de Zerbi’s Brighton and Gary O’Neil’s Wolves could be difficult, too, while Old Trafford looms large on the penultimate weekend of the season.

Arsenal lost the title away from home last season – with defeat at the Etihad and costly dropped points from winning positions at Anfield and the London Stadium. Their fate this season will be determined on the road again, while participation in the latter stages of the Champions League will also make this season’s title race a different challenge.

After a difficult first-half of the campaign, have the champions once again found their title-winning form when it counts? Pep Guardiola’s side have won nine of their last 10 in the Premier League, but until beating Manchester United on Sunday, all of those wins were against teams who were eighth or lower in the table.

That all changes as City head to Anfield, kicking off a run where the champions take on four of the Premier League’s top-five in their next six fixtures. That includes the back-to-back with title rivals Liverpool and Arsenal, either side of the international break, followed by a trip to Tottenham, where City have never won in the Premier League under Guardiola.

If City come through that run on top, they will surely end up as champions for a fourth straight year. A trip to Brighton is yet to be rearranged, while City have Luton and Wolves at home in between potential Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals in April and early May. City’s run-in is tricky, but the difficulty is front-loaded.

After near misses in 2019 and 2022, Liverpool know they must be close to perfect to dethrone Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the title race. This Sunday’s clash at Anfield could go a long way – with Guardiola yet to beat Liverpool at Anfield in front of a crowd.

From there, the Reds have a favourable run, although a second trip to Old Trafford in a matter of weeks (following the FA Cup quarter-final on 17 March) stands out for obvious reasons, as does a Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park, in a fixture could be rearranged for late in the season. Jurgen Klopp does not have the best away records at Liverpool’s two biggest rivals.

Apart from that, the key clashes to look out for could be against sides chasing Champions League football, with fixtures against Tottenham at Anfield and a trip to Aston Villa giving Liverpool a tricky final three when Wolves at home on the final day is also considered.

Having already won the Carabao Cup, Klopp’s side are also still in the FA Cup and Europa League. In 2022, they took their pursuit of the quadruple all the way – even if they fell short in the Champions League final and in the title race. The Reds are once again heading for a dramatic final few weeks – but could Klopp lift the Premier League in his final season?

And Pep Guardiola refused to comment on Trent Alexander-Arnold’s claim that trophies “mean more” at Liverpool after the Reds vice-captain stoked up the rivalry between the teams ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash.

The City manager said: “I wish him a speedy recovery and come back to the pitch as soon as possible.”

Alexander-Arnold scored a late equaliser when Liverpool drew 1-1 at the Etihad earlier this season but will miss Sunday’s fixture at Anfield due to a knee injury.

When Guardiola was pushed further later in his press conference, he replied: “I would answer but, why? Honestly. It is what it is.”

But Manchester City striker Erling Haaland quickly reminded Trent Alexander-Arnold that he has won the treble and Liverpool have not after the Reds vice-captain claimed trophies “mean more” at Anfield.

When Alexander-Arnold’s comments were put to Haaland by Sky Sports News, the Norwegian responded: “If he wants to say that, ok.

“I’ve been here one year and I won the treble and that was quite a nice feeling. I don’t think he knows exactly this feeling. That’s what I felt last season and it was quite nice.

“They can talk as much as they want, or he can talk as much as he wants. I don’t know why he does that, but I don’t mind.”

Jurgen Klopp has said there is “nothing wrong” with Trent Alexander-Arnold saying trophies “mean more” to Liverpool than they do at Manchester City and believes the vice-captain should be allowed to say how he feels about his boyhood club ahead of this weekend’s title clash.

Alexander-Arnold called Manchester City a “machine that is built to win” during an interview to FourFourTwo this week as he reflected on a rivalry that has defined the Premier League in the era of Klopp and Pep Guardiola.

Manchester City have won five Premier League titles to Liverpool’s one during that spell, with the Reds falling just short after taking the title race to the final day in both 2019 and 2022.

Despite that, Alexander-Arnold said: “Looking back on this era, although they’ve won more titles than us and have probably been more successful, our trophies will mean more to us and our fanbase because of the situations at both clubs financially.”

Liverpool and Manchester City meet once again in the Premier League, but Sunday’s clash has been given a unique kick-off time as Pep Guardiola’s side arrive at Anfield for a potential title decider.

Jurgen Klopp’s Reds hold an excellent home record against Manchester City and Guardiola’s only victory at Anfield came in the season when matches were played without fans due to the pandemic.

Liverpool defeated City 1-0 at Anfield last season, in an ill-tempered clash packed full of incident, and now Klopp’s side lead Guardiola’s team by a point in the Premier League title race.

Tensions will be high as the champions return to Anfield and Klopp faces Guardiola on the touchline for potentially the final time in England.

The match will be kicking off at the unusual time of 3:45pm GMT on Sunday 10 March.

While televised matches on Sunday usually start at either 2pm or 4:30pm, with the later slot typically used for broadcasting the weekend’s standout fixture, it is believed the kick-off time was brought forward following a recommendation from local safety groups.