City kick-off the weekend’s events with the visit of Liverpool to the Etihad Stadium in Saturday’s early game and the headlines are packed with build-up.
Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News believes victory for the Blues would send out a real statement of their title credentials.
He writes: “Liverpool stole the headlines before the Premier League broke out by demolishing Arsenal 4-0 and the hype has been building for another showdown between Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola.
“However, the Blues can claim an early lead by beating them on Saturday and nobody (except the manager, perhaps) should care how scrappy it is.
“Beating Liverpool will be an important statement whenever it happens, and there is no better time than the weekend.”
Bajkowski adds he feels City’s pace on the wings could prove key.
He continues: “Owing to injury and suspension, this will be the first matchday Guardiola has been able to select both of his new first choice wing-backs.
“They are vital to the manager’s XI and what he is trying to create in Manchester, and he said in summer that the benefit of bringing in quality players is that they take less time to adapt.
“Saturday should give us a chance to see exactly where Guardiola wants to go with this team.”
Quoted in the Sport Review, Graeme Le Saux has dubbed the clash ‘the game of the season so far’ and has predicted City to edge it.
“This really is a tantalising fixture,” he declared, “perhaps even the game of the season so far in terms of potential entertainment and the likelihood of goals.
“From a Liverpool perspective, I can’t see them wanting to relinquish possession so it’ll be really interesting to see who comes out of this as the more dominant side.
“Jurgen Klopp has referenced how impressed he’s been with his side’s strength and intensity; how City’s relatively new back four deal with both that and Liverpool’s high press will likely be key to the outcome of the match.
“Pep Guardiola has several combinations of strikers he could go with, each one could alter Man City’s shape but I think goals will be guaranteed no matter who lines up.
“The onus will be on City to impress in this fixture and it’s a tough game to call but I expect them to come out on top.”
Several publications have cast their predictions for City’s starting line-up too. Did you know you can too on the CityMatchday app?
On the subject of team news, Liverpool will be without Philippe Coutinho.
Speaking at his press conference, Klopp explained: “I decided to leave him out of the squad for Manchester City so that we can use these four or five days for real and proper training.
“He could have played 15 or 20 minutes in the City game but I think it really makes sense – and by the way, he agreed completely.”
In other news, about his intention to use his disappointment at Benfica as motivation to succeed with City.
Jack Pitt-Brooke reports: “Some footballers are different in person from how they are on the pitch, but Bernardo Silva is not.
“Almost everything that makes him one of the best players in Europe – the obvious intelligence, the imagination, the confidence and precision, in saying what he means to say, doing what he means to do – comes across just from talking to him after training on Friday afternoon.
“The Premier League has only seen 94 minutes of Silva so far, spread across three appearances, two from the bench, one from the start. But it already feels as if he could be the next big star of English football. He certainly has the talent, the personality and the manager to give him the best chance.
“Because what stands out about Silva more than anything else is that he thinks quickly and learns quickly. He was a star at school who started a degree at the University of Lisbon before his professional football career at Benfica got in the way.
“He found his way to the first team there blocked so he left home for Monaco. Within two years, at the age of 22, he was the creative brain of the most entertaining team in Europe, embarrassing both Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City themselves on their way to the Champions League semi-finals.”
Recalling the day he discovered City’s interest in him, Silva spoke of his delight and revealed his early conversation with Guardiola.
“When the season ended, my agent gave me the options and said City were very interested,” Silva remembered. “You cannot say no to a club like Man City – I did not think twice.
“My first conversation [with Guardiola] was when I arrived here. He just told me to by myself; that I would get adapted to his way.
“It has only been one month, but I have already learned the way he wants to play; the way it works.
“I am getting adapted as fast as I can. The game doesn’t stop as much as in other countries. Most of the other leagues, you have 90 minutes, but you only play 60. Here you have 90 minutes, you play 80. So you end the game more tired.”
Silva had joined Monaco from boyhood club Benfica. Naturally, the midfielder had hoped to achieve his footballing dreams with the team he loved (he has a tattoo of their motto on his arm) but he found first-team opportunities limited.
“I was a Benfica fan,” he explained. “I had played there for 12 years. My dream when I was younger was always to be a Benfica player.
“So when I arrived on the first team to work with a coach that didn’t count on me, who put me as a left back, of course I was a bit sad.”
Silva would thrive at Monaco, making a name for himself as one of the most creative and exciting talents in the European game. Now with City, he hopes to fulfil his ambitions under a manager who sees his talent and potential to achieve great things.
