5 reasons Liverpool will beat Man City in the Champions League this week

It is the biggest Champions League game for Liverpool in 10 years and the Reds are ready to take down Man City. Here are 5 reasons they will win at Anfield.

If you aren’t excited or nervous right now then check your pulse; you may be dead. Liverpool have waited ten years to get back to the Quarter Finals of the Champions League. We’ve had the bitter end of Rafa Benitez‘ reign, the Hodgson disaster, Kenny’s brief fling and the Rodgers rollercoaster since then.

Now Liverpool have a manager and a squad that is settled and moving forward at a good pace. They deserve to be here as one of the best eight sides in Europe and now they have the opportunity to show they belong in the top four.

In their way stands the Premier League champions elect; Manchester City. There is a good chance that they will actually be the title winners by the time the second leg of this tie comes around. If they beat Man Utd in the Manchester derby on Saturday evening then they will have a new Premier League trophy to show off before the return leg of this Champions League tie.

City are heavy favorites as they continue to prove they are near impossible to stop. However Liverpool will be more of a worry for them then almost any other side left in the competition. The Reds are one of less than a handful of teams to beat them this season and the only side from the Premier League to do so.

Liverpool have conceded eight goals to City in just two games this year. They will need to be on top of their game in every area to progress. That task starts tomorrow night at Anfield. We have five reasons why Liverpool are going to beat Man City this Wednesday.

1.Fierce Front Three

When Liverpool visited the Etihad in September the talk was about how the Reds would miss Philippe Coutinho. When City came to Anfield in January the Brazilian had left and the question was still how Liverpool would cope without him.

There is now no questions surrounding the Liverpool attack. They are the business. This front three is as good as any in Europe. I’d certainly have this three over Barcelona’s and PSG’s attacking trios.

City themselves have a devastating front three in Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling. However have the best player of the lot in Mohamed Salah. To add to that Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino out work their City counterparts.

The common prediction is that City will start with Sane and Sterling with either Aguero or Gabriel Jesus centrally depending on the Argentinian’s fitness. I think Guardiola will change it up. I think he will go with Aguero and Jesus with Sane on the left and de Bruyne taking more of right-sided role in a 442 formation.

Jurgen Klopp does not need to play with his formula. Mane on the left, Salah on the right, Bobby down the middle. We just need the midfield to give them enough protection and possession to let them do their thing…

2. Midfield Matchup

Wait. The midfield is a reason we will WIN on Wednesday? Yes it is. Make no mistake the Man City midfield is better than ours. Kevin de Bruyne might be Mo Salah to Premier League player of the year; that’s how good he is. David Silva should be in discussion as one of the best 5 midfielders to play in England. Fernandinho keeps it all ticking over nicely. I would swap their three for any of our three in a heart beat.

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Saying all that, they do not match up well with our lads. There has been criticism at times of the regular midfield three this season; particularly of Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum. Too often they can be passengers in a game.

However that is usually in games where the opposition are passively sitting back and inviting pressure. In that scenario we lack drive and domination from the middle. And is why Reds can’t wait to see Naby Keita at the club.

But in the big games, against teams who take the midfield initiative, it brings out the best of these players. Henderson’s best games for Liverpool are almost all in big games. He will be ready. Wijnaldum should also thrive in a tactically disciplined game at Anfield. That is when he is at his best. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had his best game for Liverpool against City at Anfield. He was magnificent in January. We’ve got this.

3. Klopp v Guardiola

It is easy to make too much of Jurgen Klopp’s record against Pep Guardiola. He has a better record against the Spaniard than anyone else with six wins and a draw in their 12 matches against each other.

Guardiola has five wins to his name. That is a 41.6% win percentage and hardly shabby at all. While I like Klopp’s stats better they aren’t so better to make me sleep easy tonight. Though it is important to note the status of the sides in those games.

The relative gap in budgets of Dortmund & Liverpool to Bayern Munich & Manchester City is sizable. Klopp has his good records despite the odds. His teams have rarely been favorites in these games and he has come away with the better record.

The two managers are the best in England and the brightest of their generation. They also have distinct styles of attacking football. Klopp is defined by high pressing and devastating pace. Guradiola for dominating possession and quick inter play. It just so happens that Klopp’s style is well designed to take Guardiola’s. Wednesday night will prove that once again.

4. Anfield Atmosphere

A curious thing happened a couple of weeks ago. Liverpool fans were organizing to ‘greet’ the Manchester City bus as it arrives at Anfield. Nothing violent, jus a lot of cheering, singing and pyro. The Man City fans promptly reported this to the police.

When Reds fans took to calling the City fans ‘grasses’ and ‘scared’ the City fans retorted that the Anfield atmosphere is a myth and much overrated. Well done Blues, you’ve just guaranteed the fiercest environment at Anfield since Chelsea lost in the Champions League semi-final of 2005.

European nights at Anfield are special. The noise, the colour and the intensity has thrown off better players than Kyle Walker. Underestimate it at your peril.

There is little you can do to prepare. Talking about it only makes it more of a concern. There will be lots of talk of the City players professionalism but also how they will ‘love’ playing in such an arena. Which is it? Are they cold-hearted professionals or human beings who can be energized (or intimidated) by an atmosphere?

You know the answer. They won’t be ready. But we will be.

5. Chip on the Reds Shoulder

It is easy for Reds to forget how this team is perceived outside of Liverpool. We are reading (and writing) articles all the time about how good Roberto Firmino is; how Karius has been excellent since getting the gloves; how Andy Robertson is Roberto Carlos incarnate; how Virgil van Dijk has made our back four ten times better; how Sadio Mane is quietly having a better year than last.

But outside of our fanbase there has been little praise for anyone not named Mohamed Salah. And you get the impression that the media are only talking about it because they can’t avoid it. He just keeps scoring goals.

Man City on the other hand are praised to the hilt. And rightly so. They have been immense this season and deserve to win the title by the first Saturday in April and all the plaudits that come with that.

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But for these Reds, this is it. The only way to have their efforts recognized is to beat City. The only way to have the progress and talent seen is to beat City. Want more glory, more fame, more money? Then beat City and the world will see. Just beat City.