Two facts that equal Manchester City-Liverpool

Jürgen Klopp will not be there , but Arne Slot will be there, who has put Liverpool at the top of the Premier League, led them to a Champions League title and qualified them for the Carabao Cup final (against Newcastle on 16 March at Wembley). The Etihad Stadium hosts another Manchester City-Liverpool game this Sunday. But this time Pep Guardiola 's team , winners of the last four Premier Leagues (setting a record for the tournament), are fourth in the table and 17 points behind their great rivals 'Red' (who have played one more game).

The numbers are clear in all sections if we analyse Manchester City and Liverpool 's season in the English championship. If we take the average, Liverpool gets 2.35 points per game and City , 1.76. Slot 's team has scored 62 goals (in 26 games, Aston Villa-Liverpool won 2-2 last Wednesday ) and City 52 in 25 games. In terms of goals conceded, City has conceded 35 and Liverpool 26 .

Guardiola's City have won 6 of the last 7 Premier Leagues. Only one was for Klopp's Liverpool , in 2019-20. This season, the City team has gone through such a deep crisis of results that the Reds arrive at the Etihad with 17 more points than the English champions. Mohamed Salah is the top scorer in the current Premier League, with 24 goals (compared to 19 for Erling Haaland , his closest rival), and top assist-giver (with 15, compared to 3 for the Norwegian).

There are two non-numerical figures that equal this great classic. One, of course, is the home-field advantage. In the Premier League, Liverpool have not won at the Etihad since 21 November 2015 (1-4, Klopp having just arrived in October). The last victory for Anfield's men at City's home dates back to 16 April 2022, 2-3 in the FA Cup semi-finals, which Liverpool won against Chelsea . At Anfield, in the Premier League on 1 December, it was 2-0 for Arne Slot 's men .

Another fact is emotional: as bad as City is after being eliminated from the Champions League by Real Madrid last Wednesday (3-1 after the 2-3 in the first leg), its players will be desperate to put on a good performance against the leaders Liverpool . A Liverpool with 7 points more than Arsenal , second, but the 'red' team with one more game. A Liverpool that will have no choice but to overcome its nervousness, in its fight to win this Premier, in which it has only lost one, against Nottingham Forest in September.