This Saturday, Liverpool begin a demanding run of fixtures as they travel to face Manchester City in the FA Cup quarterfinals, before heading to the Parc des Princes next Wednesday for a daunting Champions League clash away to PSG
In addition to their clear objective of advancing as far as possible in both remaining competitions, the Reds will also be looking to avoid a third defeat to Pep Guardiola’s men this season, having already lost both Premier League meetings—something that hasn’t happened since the 1936/37 campaign.
Between the start of the Mohamed Salah farewell tour and the grumblings surrounding PSG being granted a highly questionable Ligue 1 postponement against Lens, there has been plenty of noise around the club that could prove distracting heading into the match.
But if Liverpool can block out those subtexts, there is hope that they can scrape out what should be viewed as a crucial victory in the pursuit of silverware this season.
So, what are three keys that could propel the Reds to a massive win on Saturday?
1. Reignite the Ekitiké/Wirtz partnership
Right around the turn of the year, there was a few weeks-long stretch where Hugo Ekitiké and Florian Wirtz legitimately played like one of the most devastating duos in world football.
Beginning with the match against Wolves on Dec. 27 and continuing through the fixture against Newcastle on Jan. 31, the German and Frenchman combined to set each other up for goals on five separate occasions across all competitions.
Many saw this as an indication that their partnership was truly beginning to blossom.
Since that match against the Toon, however, the pair—albeit largely due to both missing time through injury—have failed to link up for a goal.
To beat a team like City away, it feels as though the duo will need to rediscover that excellent run of tandem form.
Fortunately, given their performances over the international break, there’s reason to believe they can rekindle that aforementioned success.
Against a formidable Switzerland side, Wirtz delivered a performance for the ages, dragging his German teammates to a 4–3 victory in which he was involved in every goal—scoring twice and providing two assists.
In addition to Ekitike finding the back of the net in a 2–1 victory over a consistently talented Brazil side, there’s reason to believe the pair can rediscover that level of chemistry.
Neither Wirtz nor Ekitike scored or assisted in Liverpool’s historic double defeat to the Citizens—what better way to make amends than by propelling the Reds into the FA Cup semifinals?
2. Keep Dominik Szoboszlai in the middle of the park
It’s undeniable that Liverpool have faced a brutal stretch at the fullback position this season.
Beyond the departure of club icon Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid, other players in the right-back role have struggled with injuries.
Conor Bradley suffered a serious setback against Arsenal, while Jeremie Frimpong, who has been intermittently fit this season, picked up another knock while representing the Netherlands during the recent international break.
This has forced Arne Slot to deploy his most consistent contributor this season, Szoboszlai, at right-back in several matches when needed
While the Hungarian has performed admirably in the role, Liverpool have scored just once in their two games against City—Szoboszlai’s stunning free kick coming while he was playing fullback.
It’s clear, then, that his creativity could be a key in unlocking a City defense that has frustrated the Reds all season long.
With zero goals from open play across 180 minutes against their fiercest rivals in recent years, Liverpool’s attack will need to be firing on all cylinders this Saturday.
Much like Ekitike and Wirtz in their national team appearances, Szoboszlai has shown no signs of slowing down after representing Hungary recently.
Their recent friendly against Greece ended 0–0, but Szoboszlai nearly produced one of the standout moments of his career, almost scoring on a breathtaking solo run in which he dribbled past five or six defenders.
If he brings that form to midfield on Saturday, Liverpool’s player of the season could very well add another goal or assist to his campaign.
Whether it ends up being Curtis Jones or Joe Gomez, someone else should occupy right-back—Szoboszlai is simply too good on the ball not to be playing in his preferred role.
3. Count on Milos Kerkez to neutralize Semenyo again
Another Hungarian who has enjoyed a highly respectable few weeks after a slow start at Liverpool is Milos Kerkez.
It seems Milos’ confidence in both defending and attacking has grown by leaps and bounds. In addition to playing in a backline that completely shut down Galatasaray, he scored what should have been a crucial goal against Brighton, signaling that he’s truly finding his footing of late.
As such, while Andy Robertson might provide a reliable veteran presence for a game of this magnitude, I believe the manager should trust Kerkez to continue his recent uptick in form, especially with the pacey Antoine Semenyo likely to start on the wing for Guardiola’s side.
Semenyo has proven to be a highly effective signing for City so far, but against Liverpool at Anfield, Kerkez limited the Ghanaian to no goal contributions and a modest 6.1 rating on SofaScore, meaning he successfully neutralized his man.
While defending aerial duels and set pieces was Kerkez’s main Achilles’ heel early in the campaign, he has always played with relentless energy—and that level of activity at left-back is exactly the type of defense needed against a player like Semenyo.
Still, given that the former Cherry scored twice against Liverpool in the season opener, Kerkez can’t rely on past success in keeping Semenyo quiet—he’ll need to be at his best again on Saturday. That said, I’m backing him to put in another solid shift.