Refreshed and revamped City and Liverpool set to renew 2018-19's titanic tussle
A solitary point separates Manchester City and Liverpool ahead of Saturday's top-of-the-table showdown at the Etihad Stadium.
Premier League champions City find themselves in familiar territory at the summit, with Jurgen Klopp's side in close pursuit of Pep Guardiola's men. Although Arsenal are on the same total as Liverpool and Tottenham a further point back, it is tempting to wonder if the top two are poised to stage a repeat of their epic title tussle of 2018-19.
Back then, the title rivals pulled away from the chasing pack to produce arguably the most compelling title race of the Premier League era, with City edging Liverpool on the final day by 98 points to 97. Liverpool's pain at coming up short was somewhat soothed by beating Tottenham to win the Champions League three weeks later - and the league title the following year.
A measure of the phenomenal standard set by both teams is that Liverpool's points total was enough to win the title in all but one of the previous 26 seasons. The problem for Klopp and his players is they were up against peerless opponents in City, who reeled off 14 consecutive wins to pip Liverpool to the title.
With City and Liverpool first and second now, just as they were five years ago, it raises the tantalising prospect of them leaving the chasing pack behind and slugging it out once again for the title. But how do the sides of 2023-24 measure up to the 2018-19 campaign? And do they have what it takes to make it another two-horse race?
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City pipped Liverpool to the title by one point in 2018-19 (Man City via Getty Images)For City, only a handful of members of Guardiola's first-choice side from five years ago remain, in Ederson, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, although the latter spent much of that season a hostage to injury – as he is now – and made just 11 league starts.
Vincent Kompany, Aymeric Laporte, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fernandinho, David Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero have moved on or retired, as Guardiola's side has evolved, without losing any of its breathtaking efficiency.
Both sides have added key players since that epic title race (Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)With 52 goals from 53 games in his record-breaking debut season, Erling Haaland has more than filled the void left by Aguero's departure. In midfield, Rodri has succeeded Fernandinho, Bernardo remains a key man and Phil Foden has matured into an automatic pick.
Liverpool have endured a similar evolution. Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson and Mo Salah all remain integral to Klopp. But new faces have arrived, including Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Alexis MacAllister. It has taken Liverpool longer than City to adapt to that change, but they have re-emerged this season and look to have what it takes to push Guardiola's serial winners once again.
Guardiola has been involved in some absorbing rivalries, not least when his Barcelona side went toe-to-toe with Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid in an ugly battle that echoed the enmity once shared by Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger at the height of their battles.
Acrimony has boiled over in recent years between City and Liverpool, not least when the coach carrying Guardiola and his players came under siege as it arrived at Anfield for a Champions League tie in April 2018. Guardiola claimed coins were thrown at him at Anfield last season, while Klopp denied comments he made about being unable to compete with the state-owned City's spending power were “xenophobic”.
That animosity has subsided in the last couple of seasons, with Liverpool falling away and Arsenal having taken their place as City's main challengers. But with Klopp's side looking like title challengers once again, such rancour is never far from the surface.
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