Man City vs Liverpool: How Reds can exploit Citizens’ defensive weaknesses | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has looked like a broken man for most of the season and on Wednesday night he finally accepted defeat.

After Manchester City were dumped out of the Champions League, Guardiola conceded that the once-European conquerors had been knocked off their perch.

“Nothing is eternal,” Guardiola said.

“We have been unbelievable and we have to try step by step to get better from today. We have been extraordinarily extraordinary in the past, but not any more.

“We have 13 games [left in the Premier League] and have to be top four or five to try to be [in the Champions League] again.”

It was only two years ago that Man City reigned as Treble winners with one of the most accomplished teams in world football. But flash forward to present day and Guardiola’s men look a world a way from winning anything.

Against Real Madrid, they were run ragged by Kylian Mbappe, who netted a hat-trick, and were at sixes and sevens in defence. The team have no time to remedy their frailty at the back as they now prepare to welcome the league leaders Liverpool to the Etihad on Sunday.

Arne Slot will have done plenty of preparation on Man City in the build-up to this huge game and will likely pinpoint their full-backs as an area where Liverpool can get some real joy.

Right back has been a huge problem area all season for Man City and it’s one that Guardiola still looks like he’s figuring out. The last five games have been like an audition process for the position. Four players have tried out the role but none of them look comfortable. First it was Matheus Nunes, who played in the disastrous 5-1 loss to Arsenal, then Manuel Akanji in the first leg against Real Madrid. In the 4-0 win over Newcastle United, it was Rico Lewis.

Against Madrid in the second leg, new signing Abdukodir Khusanov was thrusted into the right-back berth but had a difficult evening as Vinicius Jr and Mbappe ran at him all night and had plenty of success. He made just one tackle, one interception and lost two challenges, with a ground duel success of 40%.

It wasn’t just him who had to forget though, as Ruben Dias was at fault for the first goal after failing to deal with a long ball over the top and missing his header, allowing Mbappe to score the opener. The Frenchman then cut Man City’s defence into ribbons for the second goal, sitting Josko Gvardiol down on the ground before slotting home. For the third, the entire back line sat motionless as the superstar forward effortlessly rolled a curler into the far corner.

Man City have shown you can get at them on either flank, which should provide plenty of optimism for Liverpool on Sunday. The Reds are hoping to welcome back Cody Gakpo from injury and he’d relish the chance to run at one of City’s makeshift right-backs, which is likely to be Nunes again this weekend.

On the left, Gvardiol will be facing off against Mo Salah who has scored in each of his last seven matches and that duel could be a mismatch based on his sorry performance at the Bernabeu. He made a total of just two tackles, lost two challenges and failed to make a single interception. Going forward didn’t bring too much positivity either as he didn’t attempt a cross and only completed one out of two attempted take-ons.

It seemed like an off night for the Croatian, who has statistically been one of the best left-backs in the Premier League this season after having the highest ground duel success (62.1%), the most passes into the final third completed (145).

However, we’ve seen him make six errors leading to a shot this season, the highest of anyone in his position who’s played more than 1,500 minutes. And Liverpool will certainly look to exploit that through Salah, who can run players ragged on an average day.

Slot’s team will be hoping to prey on the uncertainty at the back at Man City after the shoddy display from Ruben Dias and John Stones against Madrid.

As they showed against Aston Villa, Liverpool will punish any mistakes with their relentless high line after Villa’s costly backpass led to an easy opener for Salah. And either Diogo Jota or Luis Diaz will look to sit on the shoulder of the last defender and run in behind. Liverpool have that ability to open teams up at will and Man City can ill afford any lapses in concentration.

Another plus for Liverpool is that Man City will likely be without key forward Erling Haaland, after the Norwegian missed the trip to Madrid with a knock. Omar Marmoush doesn’t have that same physical presence up front though he will still be a worry for Slot with his superb ability at 1v1 dribbling, combining with others and clinical finishing — as he demonstrated by netting a hat-trick in the 4-0 win over Newcastle last week.

Like Man City, Liverpool also look vulnerable at full-back after Villa managed to find gaps down the flanks — so Marmoush may look to venture into the channels left behind during counter attacks.

But Liverpool will be by far the more confident side out of the two and Slot bullishly warned Guardiola’s men that they haven’t lost in the league since September.

“What I expect from City is what everybody expects when you go to the Etihad: you have to suffer and work extremely hard because they are so good in possession,” he said.

“But they also face a strong team that hasn’t lost in 22 games.”

The onus is very much on Liverpool to deliver at the Etihad, a venue where they have not tasted victory since 2018. There has never been a better time to bring that torrid run to an end.