MANCHESTER CITY V LIVERPOOL

The Blues have had some recurring problems
against defensive-minded teams this season, but
Liverpool's visit will offer something completely
different

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City could look like a
completely different team when Liverpool visit the Etihad
Stadium this Saturday.

The Blues will finally be able to cut loose against the
Reds, having faced three largely defensive opponents so
far this season, but at the same time their new-look
defence will face their biggest test to date.

City have taken seven points from their opening three
games - only Manchester United have a better haul - but
there is a sense that the Blues are yet to really get going.

They have faced the second fewest shots this season
(21), but they have had difficulty breaking down
stubborn opposition.

So far City's forwards have offered mere glimpses of the
quality attacking play they are capable of. It was evident
for the opening goal at Brighton, when Kevin De Bruyne
and David Silva played the perfect passes to allow Sergio
Aguero a relatively simple finish. It was a similar story at
Bournemouth, when the quick-thinking Gabriel Jesus
linked up with Silva to eek out some much-needed space.

Yet it is telling that both of those goals came when the
opposition were caught out; Brighton had attempted a rare
jaunt up field, only for De Bruyne to recover the ball and
break away. At Bournemouth, Jesus found Silva with
a quick free-kick as many of the home defenders
were looking at the referee.

City were afforded more space in the first half against
Everton but some old failings in front of goal came into
play, something which is likely to be a recurring theme.


*HOW MAN CITY COULD LINE UP*


As long as City are faced with massed defences, they will
be forced to play a patient passing game.

The stats suggest they can be a little too patient,
however; Opta sequence data shows Guardiola's side
make 4.64 passes per attack, the highest amount in the
league.

And they are down in 15th place when it comes to speed
of attack; the data shows City move the ball 1.53 metres
per second towards the goal - the same as West Brom.

There are reasons for this, of course. City's three
opponents have all sat back for most of the game;
Brighton for the entirety, Everton after Kyle Walker's first-
half red card, and Bournemouth after their fast-paced
opening 15 minutes.

It would make no sense for City to sprint full pelt at a
compact block of 11 defenders.

But at the same time Guardiola will be disappointed at
how slowly his side have been moving the ball around,
particularly from the back.

No Premier League defender has seen more of the
ball than Nicolas Otamendi, who has 319 touches, 268
passes and 239 successful passes, all league highs.
Vincent Kompany is fourth on the list of passes/
successful passes, and fifth in terms of touches.

Guardiola acknowledges that John Stones is better on the
ball, but says he is better at "squeezing" the game from
the middle of a three-man defence, while Kompany and
Otamendi are better in the duels which occur in the wider
positions.

That is true, but too often this season the ball has ended
up with Kompany and Otamendi, who do not have the
range of passing to open up the opposition. While both
men have impressive passing stats on paper (roughly 90%
accuracy for both), too often these passes have simply
been played into the feet of team-mates positioned just a
few yards away.

In City's first two games, three of the five most common
passing combinations were between two centre-backs, or
a centre-back and Fernandinho. At Bournemouth, it was
Kompany to Otamendi, Otamendi to Kompany, and
Otamendi to De Bruyne, who had taken up a deeper role,
perhaps to bypass Fernandinho.

Indeed, the Brazilian could also be seen as part of the
problem; he is fifth for touches, passes and successful
passes made by Premier League midfielders, but sources
have told Goal that Ilkay Gundogan, when fit, will
replace him at the back of midfield in a bid to add an
extra dimension to City's game.

Yet while these problems will need to be resolved as the
season goes on, they may not be much of a concern on
Saturday.

*HOW LIVERPOOL COULD LINE UP*


Firstly, both Walker and Benjamin Mendy will be available
for the first time. City struggled to find a suitable left wing-
back in the first two games but did look more balanced
when Mendy returned at Bournemouth, with Danilo on the
other flank.

But the biggest factor will be Liverpool's approach.

The Reds have a good record against City in recent years
and their fast-paced, counter-pressing style is destined to
cause more problems for the Blues, particularly if
Kompany is ruled out through injury.

The Belgian would have been susceptible to being pressed
anyway, but City do defend better with him in the
side. The Stones-Otamendi pairing has not always worked
well, and that will be an extra concern for Guardiola as he
contends with how best to deal with Liverpool's forwards
both on and off the ball.

Indeed, the Merseysiders have had the most shots in the
league so far.

They are the only side to have faced fewer shots than
City, too, but while that suggests Guardiola's side will find
it difficult to create chances, the key will be how Liverpool
attack. While they will certainly provide a stern
examination of City's new-look defence, they will leave the
kind of spaces that the Blues can exploit.

Liverpool may well have faced the fewest shots, but they
shipped three goals against an adventurous Watford team,
before facing an inhibited Crystal Palace side and the
abject Arsenal.

The Reds will not face many teams who are willing to take
risks and attack them, but that is exactly what they will
get from City.

It's all set up to be a pulsating game of football and,
perhaps for Guardiola, a welcome break from the norm.



*What's the prediction for today's game??*