Man Cityvs.Liverpool

Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany believes that the Citizens have "a chance" of beating Premier League leaders Liverpool if "world-class footballer" Erling Haaland is fit to play in Sunday's showdown at the Etihad Stadium.

Haaland picked up a minor knee injury in the closing stages of City's 4-0 win over Newcastle United last Saturday and although he was spotted in training earlier this week, he had "discomfort walking" according to Pep Guardiola.

The Norwegian subsequently watched on as an unused substitute as the Citizens suffered a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League playoff on Wednesday, losing 6-3 on aggregate.

Guardiola confirmed on Friday that Haaland remains a doubt for Sunday's top-flight battle with Liverpool and will undergo a late fitness test to determine whether he will be fit to feature.

Haaland's availability against Liverpool may 'change an awful lot' in the eyes of McInerney, who has been impressed by the 24-year-old's "fantastic" goalscoring form, even in what has been a disappointing campaign for City overall.

City's No.9 has found the net 27 times in 35 appearances across all competitions this season and currently sits second in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot with 19 goals in 25 games, five goals behind Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (24).

Man City have "a chance" of beating Liverpool if "world-class" Haaland is fit

Discussing how optimistic he is about Man City's chances of beating Liverpool, McInerney told Sports Mole: "It's so weird when you're in a season like this where you've had a poor season, but you've still got a lot of top-class players there, and you know it's very possible that your team could turn up and do really well [or] just be absolutely terrible. It's just so hard to set your expectations.

"It is possible that City with the quality that they've still got (could beat Liverpool), especially if Haaland's available by the way. I think there's been a lot of narrative about Haaland and does he contribute enough and blah, blah, blah.

"It was strikingly obvious that Haaland's lack of presence was felt against Real Madrid. He's a world-class footballer and he absolutely has a gravitational pull that's ridiculous. He draws everyone towards him.

"So if Haaland's available, that changes an awful lot. I think you can talk a lot about how City play, but ultimately we've become accustomed to him being there and a large part of how we play goes through him. So if he's available, I do think we could do something. I don't know if it's realistic, though, because of the injury roulette and so on, and who's available."

McInerney added: "In terms of where we could win it, it is down to the quality of our forward line. Haaland, despite City's terrible season, has still been fantastic and scored a bucket full of goals.

"Even if his performances individually haven't been incredible, he's still getting those goals, and without him, I don't even know where we'd be. We'd be really struggling. If he's on the pitch, there is a chance."

"It felt stupid" to play Savinho as a "quasi-false nine" vs. Real Madrid

In the absence of Haaland against Real Madrid, Guardiola surprisingly selected Savinho in a centre-forward role alongside new signing Omar Marmoush, but both players ultimately struggled to make the desired impact in the final third.

McInerney has questioned Guardiola's decision to play Savinho in a central position and would prefer to see the Brazilian winger operate on the right, with Jeremy Doku on the left flank, while Marmoush is the "most obvious solution" to play through the middle if Haaland is not fit to start.

"I think Guardiola tried [something] weird against Madrid," said McInerney. "He played Savinho like a quasi-false nine central thing. It'd be weird of me to say it was stupid, because it's Pep, but it felt stupid.

"I don't know if it was or not, but it just didn't work. Savinho's a one-on-one specialist. I think maybe by the time he's 25, there might be an all-round composure to his game where he can get the ball centrally and dictate a little bit more, and I think he might be onto something there, but he just wasn't ready for it.

"For now, Savinho needs to be out wide, and for me, the most obvious solution (if Haaland is not fit to start up front) is the one right in front of us - Marmoush can play through the middle.

"He's not Haaland and he's definitely the sort of second-striker guy as opposed to a classic number nine, but he scores goals, he can make the runs, and it makes sense.

Should Savinho, Doku start out wide? Marmoush up front vs. Liverpool?

"Play Marmoush through the middle. I don't think it's complicated. I think you can overthink these things, and Pep can do that every now and then, as much as I love him.

"It has to be Marmoush through the middle, it has to be Savinho on the right, I would play Doku on the left, if he was fit, I'd play [Phil] Foden behind them, because that's a very obvious aggressive [frontline]. I mean, if [Kevin] De Bruyne is available, De Bruyne there too, potentially instead of Foden, but to me, that's the obvious lineup."

McInerney believes that the pace of Savinho and Doku out wide could cause Liverpool problems in the full-back areas, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson the most likely players to start at right-back and left-back respectively.

"There's always been the question mark around Trent, whether people agree or not, it's there," he added. "Against defensively - debatable - full-backs, it'd be silly for City to not look at that as a potential weakness and try and hit them on the counter-attack, or just even go one-on-one and isolate them.

"I want to see Savinho and Doku, if they're available. Robertson is world-class on his day (but) Savinho will do him. He'll do him a couple of times if he gets a chance to, and likewise Doku. He will get past Trent Alexander-Arnold every now and then.

"So if they're available, I think at home as well, I think there's never a better chance to lean into attacking aggression, and with those two available, especially if Haaland is not, I'd like to see them be involved in this, and Marmoush through the middle 100%."

Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion between McInerney and Liverpool expert David Lynch ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash.

Written by

Oliver Thomas