Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith of “The A-Team” said it best when he said: “I love it when a plan comes together.”
It’s no secret that I’m a huge football fan. (I’m using “football” and not “soccer” because it’s the proper term to use.) The editors at Total Sports Live realized that, and here we are — the first of a new weekly spot: the Total Sports Live “Premier League Match of the Week”. It just so happens that the first one of these is a blockbuster.
This Monday afternoon, Liverpool FC travel to the Etihad to get an early season test against defending Premier League champion Manchester City FC. After finishing top four in the Premier League last year, there is a lot of hope for Liverpool and manager Brendan Rogers. This would be the first gauge to see where The Reds stand in terms of top-tier European club football.
Going to the Etihad in the second Premier League game for Liverpool A.S. (after Suarez) is going to be daunting. Not having Suarez diminishes confidence a little, but there’s a bigger issue — the fact that Liverpool hasn’t won at the Etihad since October 5, 2008. Six years without a win at Manchester City can be demoralizing when you think about it.
It isn’t as if Liverpool isn’t equipped to win in Manchester City. Even without Suarez, The Reds feature A LOT of offensive firepower up front between forwards Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling, and midfielders “Hendo” (Jordan Henderson), Phillipe Coutinho, and veteran stalwart Steven Gerrard — whose name I misspelled one time and got LIT UP on forum boards across Europe. (I remembered to look it up this time, guys.)
What should concern Liverpool fans now — and later in the season when UEFA Champions League games start — is the back four. The back four against Southampton of Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel, Javier Manquillo, and Dejan Lovren looked incredibly shaky at times. There always seemed to be Southampton players running freely into the box — as evidenced by the goal scored by Nathaniel Clyne on a very good one-two play between he and Dusan Tadic.
It will be interesting to see who Rogers goes with at Manchester City. Will he stay with this group of four, or will he consider throwing in either Mamadou Sakho or more veteran presence with Kolo Touré?
In an interview with liverpoolfc.com, net minder Simon Mignolet admitted that the team didn’t know what to expect from Southampton because of a new manager and new players. Mignolet and Liverpool know that won’t be the case with City:
“They have some top players and it will be a difficult game, but we competed with them last season and hopefully we will get the three points.”
Mignolet’s statement about City rings very true. With Manchester City, what you see is what you get. There’s not going to be too much deviation from Manuel Pellegrini’s club. Why would you? The men in place have delivered two of the last three Premier League titles.
You’re going to get a stout back four led by captain Vincent Kompany.
You’re going to get one of the best net minders in the Premier League in Joe Hart.
You’re going to get (in my opinion) the deepest midfield in the Premier League today with Samir Nasri, Fernando, Yaya Touré, and David Silva in the starting XI with James Milner and Jesús Navas on the bench.
You’re going to get a pair of dynamite goal scorers up front in Stevan Jovetic and newly extended Edin Dzeko. If they start to seem ineffective, then here comes Sergio Agüero who is just deadly as a substitute.
The word “consistency” has become synonymous with Manchester City in recent years. They’re not making big splashy moves like Real Madrid’s signing of Gareth Bale last year (or Luis Suarez this year), but they’re making the smarter moves like the Jesús Navas move last year. Since the Agüero/Nasri £64 million spending spree back in 2011, City has built a solid base that has led them to success. Why mess with something as important as consistency — especially when it wins?
There’s nothing Manchester City can throw at Liverpool that they haven’t seen before from this side, and there lies the challenge. Can Liverpool stop them? Recent history has shown they can in the sense that they can get a draw, but earning three points at the Etihad has proved elusive for the last six years.
Monday is going to be a showcase of two teams that are going to be battling at the top of the Premier League all season long — and potentially in Champions League as well. It’s an early test for Liverpool, and it’ll be the second time in recent years that Manchester City will open the season at home as the reigning champs.
Should be a good one!
Manchester City v. Liverpool
3:00 pm EST/8:00 pm BST
NBC SportsNet (US)/Sky Sports (ENG)
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