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Manchester City v Liverpool is still THE game.
It’s a clash between the best two EPL clubs of the last decade, whose titanic battles will live long in the memory.
Both are bucking the recent trend toward physicality, still playing traditional football, passing to feet, and easy on the eye.
Not Arsenal, whose Gridiron blocks are hard for a neutral to warm to.
Sunday night’s game also pits the hottest striker in the league against a defence for whom clean sheets had become a rarity until this week.
And in another subplot, there’s a battle between two playmakers with an £80m price difference between them.
At 0.30am on Monday in Malaysia, it could also be a decider of sorts if it produces a clear-cut winner capable of giving a genuine chase to the league leaders.
Gooners would be delighted with a draw, but either City or Liverpool – or even both – have the quality to run them down.
Almost three-quarters of the season remains and the Gunners’ lead is six points from City, with Liverpool a further point behind.
We know only too well that a lead in double figures can be overhauled with only a quarter of the season left.
And a lot can happen across four competitions.
It’s not been smooth sailing for either City or Liverpool this season, with the latter’s woes stealing the limelight because of the money they spent.
But City also bought big, doing most of their business in the winter window in response to a disastrous autumn.
It’s been a year since City’s “Great Collapse”. On October 30, 2024, Spurs knocked them out of the Carabao Cup.
A one-off? Anything but: they went on a run of 13 matches, winning just once.
They lost five in a row and were hammered 4-1 by Sporting Lisbon.
But the lowest point of an unforeseen yet unforgettable low has to be the draw with Feyenoord in the Champions League.
City were 3-0 up at home with 16 minutes left, yet managed to concede three goals with an element of slapstick about all of them.
For a few weeks, they reverted to being the pre-takeover City, the pre-Pep City, and almost a different club.
And it was when Guardiola appeared before the press with scratches on his head, which, he admitted, he’d done to himself.
He was distraught, devastated and many expected him to quit.
For fans of a certain age, it was when City went back to being their old selves &#8211; &#8211; Cock-up City.
And when the stock phrase for a disaster was: “It could only happen to City.”
What Liverpool experienced this season was not remotely in that league.
After such a nightmare and losing Rodri, who tore his ACL the month before, for the season, City did well to finish second.
Helped by Pep’s decision to renew his contract and a busy winter transfer window, they regrouped.
But even when they began to win a few games, Arsenal thrashed them 5-1 at the Etihad.
The aura of invincibility was well and truly lost.
In January, they shelled out £180m of the £370m total – almost as much as the other 19 clubs combined.
Out of six signings, only Omar Marmoush has been an unqualified success, but Pep’s rebuild of his Treble-winning side of 2023 began soon after the trophy was lifted.
In came Jeremy Doku and Josko Gvardiol, both now key men in his best XI.
This summer, City were looking at Florian Wirtz, but were put off by the price and the German’s preference for Liverpool.
They’d also watched Rayan Cherki, who was available for a third of Wirtz’s price.
City couldn’t see an £80m difference between the two and went for the cheaper option.
But to replace the irreplaceable Kevin De Bruyne, Guardiola felt he needed two players, so bought Tijjani Reijnders as well.
Injury delayed Cherki’s entrance to the EPL, but this week, he’s making up for lost time.
And has already made more impact than Wirtz, notwithstanding the Liverpool man’s improved showing against Real Madrid.
Brazilian winger Savio also seems to have got the Pep message this season, but the biggest attacking threat City have is Erling Haaland, a new and improved Haaland.
With 27 goals for club and country already, he does seem to be operating on a higher level.
Pep is even mentioning the Norwegian in the same breath as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
At the back, too, he has world-class, having snapped up Gianluigi Donnarumma when PSG’s obsession with passing meant the Italian shot-stopper was allowed to leave.
So much for being among the best in the world! And he’s not that bad with his feet, either.
Pep is even getting a tune out of Mattheus Nunes at right back while on the other flank, Nico O’Reilly is another academy prospect who can make the grade.
With only Mateo Kovacic definitely out, he has an almost full-strength squad for Liverpool’s visit. Even Rodri came on for a few minutes at Bournemouth.
And with Phil Foden finally putting in a much-needed performance and two goals against Dortmund, he will have a surfeit of riches to choose from.
Yet it’s the success of this summer&#8217;s arrivals that is suggesting that another great Pep team is under construction now.
Unlike one or two of Liverpool’s summer recruits, who’ve looked as if they need Waze to find a teammate, Cherki and Reijnders look the part.
But two good wins this past week have worked wonders for the mood at Anfield and the Reds will go into the big game having regained their mojo.
It could be a clash to evoke memories of when Jurgen Klopp’s heavy metal collided with Guardiola’s fine-tuned orchestra.
Stay tuned.
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The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.

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