Is Man City's trip to Anfield a must-win game?

Karan Ahgun

— 3 min read
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Is Man City's trip to Anfield a must-win game?

After dropping points again last weekend, Manchester City find themselves 6 points behind Arsenal in the Premier League. City were 2-0 up and cruising against Tottenham Hotspur, but a nightmarish second-half saw the North London side draw level. If Arsenal were to beat Sunderland before City kick-off at Anfield, the gap between the two would be 9 points, and given City's horrendous record at Anfield, the pressure to get a positive result would increase even more.

Sunday's affair against Spurs was an odd one. In the first-half, City didn't have to get out of third gear, and made it 2-0 before half-time easily with goals from Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo. For those watching the game, it felt like a foregone conclusion that City would get the victory and keep the points gap to Arsenal to just 4 points. But somehow, Spurs were given a path back into the game, through a somewhat dubious first goal, where it looked like Dominic Solanke kicked through Marc Guehi's foot to score. After that, Spurs were the team in the ascendancy and soon equalised with a scorpion kick goal from Solanke. It was obvious that City needed to change their offensive dynamic as the second-half went on but Guardiola seemed hesitant to do so. Foden and Marmoush came on in the dying moments of the match and were unable to make any impact, and Rodri had to be substituted to prevent him from getting sent-off for a second yellow card. All in all, that second-half couldn't have gone much worse for City.

Next up in the Premier League, is a trip to Anfield - a ground where City have only won once under Pep Guardiola. Liverpool themselves have been in better form than they were earlier in the season. Last weekend's 4-1 victory against Newcastle United was a welcome response to their last minute defeat at Bournemouth the week before. Something that will trouble Man City on Sunday will be the developing relationship between Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz in midfield. Wirtz has been showing more glimpses on the talent we saw at Leverkusen recently, with his goal and assist against the Magpies highlighting his talent. Liverpool fans will be encouraged given their home record against City but will also gain confidence from City's recent performances, where they have been susceptible to conceding chances on the transition and have moments where they lack creativity to open up defences. A loss for Guardiola's team could have a massive impact on their title hopes, especially if Arsenal win their game. A potential 9 point gap, would mean that City will need a 3 game swing to overtake the Gunners and at the moment, it doesn't seem likely that that points gap will be made up.

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