A Thoroughly Modern Rivalry
Liverpool v Man City moves into the next generation with Slot v Pep 1 this afternoon.
A Thoroughly Modern Rivalry
Later on today, Liverpool face Manchester City at Anfield in a game that already promises that it could have significant implications on the destiny of this season’s title. This is largely down to City’s unprecedented collapse in form over the past few weeks, but looking back over the past 10 years it is really no surprise that this game is as significant as it is as the two teams have dominated the Premier League.
It is a rivalry built on circumstance rather than any traditional dislike or clashing of opinions and Liverpool fans would still claim city rivals Everton and long-term rivals Manchester United hold a higher place on the hatred scale. However, so many of the clashes between these two teams have held such weight over the last decade that the fans of each have learnt to dislike each other and have looked forward to (or dreaded) this game on the calendar as soon as fixture lists are produced.
Today will provide Arne Slot with his first opportunity to go head-to-head with Pep Guardiola, widely considered to be the best manager in world football, in the Premier League. It will be interesting to see how this goes down on the touchline as, up until this point, Slot has shown himself to be far less fiery than his predecessor, Jurgen Klopp. Whilst the Klopp vs Pep rivalry itself was most definitely built on mutual respect, the German’s lively touchline antics certainly brought more edge to the fixture and at times drew fury and ire from the City bench, as well as from match officials!
In the Premier League, the teams met 17 times under the stewardship of the two great rivals and Pep just had the edge with 6 victories to Klopp’s 4 with 7 of the games being drawn. Looked at in isolation, it could be argued that at least a couple of these games went a long way to determining the eventual destiny of the league title. These facts don’t take into account the wider rivalry between the two men though, as their duels actually date back further to when they were managing Dortmund (Klopp) and Bayern (Pep) in the Bundesliga, and Klopp actually holds a slim overall advantage.
The league rivalry also doesn’t take into account the wider picture, as the story between the teams stretches much further and includes further clashes in the Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and the Community Shield. In overall fixtures between the two with Klopp and Pep in opposing dugouts, Liverpool actually won 8, City 6 and a further 8 were drawn. The Spaniard could quite easily point to the greater number of league titles won during that time though to reassert his dominance.
However, the rivalry as it stands also predates both Klopp and Pep’s reigns as I would argue that it really goes back to the 2013/14 season where Liverpool and City battled alongside Chelsea for the title. In that year, City were ultimately victorious despite Liverpool beating them during the run-in (I have already written about the impact of Steven Gerrard’s untimely slip against Chelsea on that particular title race) and also beat their rivals on penalties in the Carabao Cup final.
Although Liverpool then had a somewhat fallow period until the Klopp revolution really kicked in, the rivalry continued to simmer with some notable flashpoints along the way. Chief among these in the early days was probably the defection of Raheem Sterling from Liverpool to City in the summer of 2015.
Sterling had been one of the shining lights of Liverpool’s 2013/14 title challenge and had continued to build himself into being a vital member of the first team. Still only just 20 though, Sterling clearly felt that his contract did not reflect the star that he was becoming. A deal was put on the table, but negotiations were put off until the summer. Ultimately Sterling decided that his future lay elsewhere, but it was much to the consternation of Liverpool fans that he decided to move to their direct rivals.
The 2017/18 season is where the rivalry really kicked into full gear. After a stuttering first year in charge, Pep’s City were really starting to find their groove, highlighted by a 5-0 thrashing of Liverpool at the Etihad in September, although this was somewhat aided by an early Sadio Mane red card following a clash with City keeper Ederson. Liverpool got a win back in a pulsating 4-3 victory at Anfield in January 2018 but then the teams were drawn against each other in the quarter finals of the Champions League.
Regular readers may recognise that I have written about these fixtures previously, but this story can’t really be told without me going over them again. I had only recently got together with my now wife at the time and we had booked a few nights away together during the school Easter holidays. At the time of booking, the draw hadn’t taken place, but once it had, I knew there was no way I was going to miss watching the first leg at Anfield which landed right in the middle of our holiday. Luckily a promise of a nice meal first, followed by some drinks during the game itself swung it for me, and we settled down in a pub to watch.
The pictures in the build up were incredible as Liverpool supporters had lined the streets, determined to create the famous Anfield atmosphere to boost their heroes. Unfortunately on this occasion it probably went too far as the City team bus was stopped on its way to the ground and some windows were smashed. Whether this had an impact on the players or whether City just never got out of the gates we will never know, but Liverpool absolutely blew them away in an opening 31 minutes that saw them take a 3-0 lead that they never surrendered, leaving the second leg, which Liverpool also won, almost as a moot point (although City did take the lead and had another ruled out for offside before Liverpool turned it around). It was a wonderful evening, and one that I will always remember.
Ultimately, City had the last laugh, as they went on to win the title whilst Liverpool were beaten by Real Madrid in the Champions League final, but the precedent for the fiery rivalry between the two had been set.
The following season, 2018/19, is one that will go down in history as one of the closest ever, with City going on to win by a solitary point. The turning point in the title race can be traced back to the second meeting between the two rivals, the first being a 0-0 draw, in January of 2019. Up until this point, Liverpool had pulled 7 points ahead, but City were gathering momentum. The matchup between the two was being billed as a potential title decider, especially if Liverpool had won.
Again, as fate decreed it, I was away during the game, this time in Edinburgh. On this occasion, I wasn’t even able to swing the odds in my favour to watch the whole match, as the first half was during a pre-booked dinner with friends. Suffice to say I was constantly checking my phone for updates and was devastated when City took a 40th minute lead. It wasn’t until later that I realised how close Liverpool had been to taking the lead in the 18th minute when the ball was literally a couple of millimetres away from being fully over the line.
I did manage to make apologies and get away to watch the second half but despite Firmino equalising for Liverpool, City went on to win and managed to be more consistent until the end to win by that solitary point. There was some debate over whether Vincent Kompany should have seen red when the scores were level, but incidents like these have probably levelled out over time.
Even Liverpool’s league title win in 2019/20 is a sore point for fans as due to COVID-19, there was no way to celebrate properly in the way that would have certainly been done after waiting 30 years. City had a gripe in the first meeting between the two that year when they were appealing for a penalty when Liverpool went up and opened the scoring but it was not to be and the Reds went on to win 3-1.
Since then, City have been dominant, winning the next four titles in a row but Liverpool have still managed to get at them, beating them in the FA Cup and taking points in the league. There have been various touchline arguments, disputes between fans and controversy over this period too, all leading towards the next chapter today.
Of course, the other thing that is underlying all of these events on the pitch is what has happened off it. City still have 115 charges hanging over to them relating to monetary irregularities and potential breaches of Financial Fair Play rules. Whilst they have yet to be convicted of any of these, it plays into the narrative that rival fans have of them having ‘bought’ their titles, much in the way that Chelsea were previously accused of doing the same.
Whatever happens at Anfield today, there are bound to be consequences further down the line. Whether a loss, and an 11 point deficit to their rivals, would really see City being eliminated from the title chase remains to be seen. A draw wouldn’t really further either cause but would still leave Liverpool with the advantage. A City win may give them the momentum they need to turn their season around.
Regardless, the game will generate discussion whether it is due to individual or team brilliance, controversial incidents or sideline bust ups. All of this plays into what makes it a must see event and I for one wouldn’t miss it for the world.