Man City v Liverpool PL Preview

WHEN

Man City v Liverpool.. Saturday 1st April.. 12:30 BST

ANOTHER EARLY KICK OFF

Yes another early kick off.. We are not really fans of these this season and for a clash between these two heavyweights you'd expect it to be a Sunday afternooner.. Still we all know how well the FA run things so we'll have to roll with it..

What can we expect.. The same as any other early kick off.. They can be very hard to predict.. One team usually starts slower.. Sometimes both teams start slow you just never know.. The second half usually explodes as teams finally wake up..

Both teams face injury problems with players returning from internationals etc.. So a few things are unknown yet this is a must win for the reds now. The season has been absolutely awful lets not shy away from that.. No matter what is going on behind the scenes, injury wise or tactically everyone needs to step up.

The players are good enough whoever has entered the field. But the energy levels and effort have been woeful. No more summed up in the return leg against Real Madrid. That performance was simply not good enough. With 3 weeks til our next game we should have seen much more from the team. This after a 1-0 loss at Bournemouth too. No reaction..

Quick Stat Check.. City are coming into this on the back of 6 wins scoring a mere 23 and letting in 1.. We are on the back of two defeats as mentioned.. This after beating United 7-0 which sums our season up.. With a 0-0 draw at palace this makes 3 away games without a goal.. Liverpool have though won 3 of the last 4 meetings..

LIVERPOOL TEAM NEWS

Long term injuries now include Bajcetic as well as Ramsay who are out for the season.. Tsimikas picked up a rib injury while away with Greece.. While Thiago, Nunez, Gomez & Diaz are literally days away from returns and could feature in this one.. With the news Diaz & Nunez trained today the future looks bright..

MAN CITY

City have two injuries to report and they are quite big ones. Fodan & Haaland could both be out. But like Benzema for Real who was quoted as being out for both games against us in the Champions League you'd expect Haaland to play a part if they can strap him up..

DANGERMAN..Take your pick.. Yet Mahrez has been pretty lethal against us the last few games. De Bruyne & Haaland obviously need stopping but Mahrez if he starts needs attention.. 

LIVERPOOL TEAM

Ali, Trent, Konate, Virg, Robbo, Fabs, Hendo, Gakpo, Mo, Nunez, Jota

THE GAME

I know this preview has started out a little negative but thats not the intention. The team and management have to be brutally honest with themselves and ask why are we in this situation.. A situation where we could have had a real chance of winning the league again.

Jurgen picked all four to play up front against Real Madrid which was the correct thing to do. We needed goals but the system and set up be it a 442 or more likely a 424 just does not work..

We played a 4231 against Rangers with four strikers Diaz, Nunez & Mo up top with Jota behind and produced one of our best displays of the season. We looked solid and controlled and have rarely gone back to this system since..

Midfield is where the majority of games are won and lost and where we are struggling this season.. Real Madrid dominated and ran a none existent midfield ragged. Cos Fabs was the only one in there. So 4231 has to be the teams formation going forward with all our attacking options. We've been screaming for it for ages now. Its time to unleash the beast..

City will once again target Trent. Plenty of attacks down that side.. So we need to protect that and stop City from dominating the midfield. Diaz will be a revelation if he starts or more likely comes on as a sub..

PREDICTION.. 2-1 to them mighty reds.. In reality we'll do well to get off the pitch without going down 3-0 yet you always have the belief this team can step up.. Diaz return should fire up the attack as positions really are now at a premium cos he starts every match.. 

We've had a good record against them recently and know what we need to do.. It's all on the team set up and style of play.. Surely we will be well up for this. Lets set up strong and take the game to them.. Snap into the tackles and hit them hard and fast on the counter attacks.

Our forwards need to click and have more direct decisive attacks. No more sloppy passes.. We did it in the League Cup but this time lets leave the Etihad with a clean sheet or maybe 1 goal against and we are well in with a shout..

3 points here and we close that gap on top 4 and in so doing give Arsenal a major lift in the title race. 

OurLFC DANGERMAN.. Like all season Darwin Nunez. He should have had 4 in the League Cup and if he's fit will cause them more problems. Diaz & Nunez are the Dream Team moving forwards for OurLFC it'll be great to have them back on the pitch together once again.. Also big game Mo looks nailed on to score once more

We will bring you match previews before every fixture. Share around using the links and let us know your thoughts on the match..