Sunday\u2019s Liverpool v Man City meeting carries familiar weight despite both clubs occupying unusual positions this season. Liverpool remain in the hunt for Champions League qualification and seek revenge for the 3\u20130 defeat at the Etihad in November, while City aim to keep pace with the Gunners in the title race. Four on-field duels look likely to determine how the contest unfolds.<\/p>\n
Virgil van Dijk v Erling Haaland: Their match-ups have been evenly balanced in recent years, but both enter this game off their best form. Van Dijk\u2019s decline this season has coincided with uncharacteristic errors and fatigue as he plays almost every match at 34. Haaland began the campaign strongly but has produced only two goals in 11 appearances at the start of 2026 and has been quieter in front of goal. Van Dijk will hope to regain control, while Haaland may seek to exploit any dip in the Dutchman\u2019s influence.<\/p>\n
Milos Kerkez v Antoine Semenyo: The opening-day reunion was a difficult one for Kerkez, who lasted just an hour and carried a yellow before Bournemouth\u2019s forward scored twice in a 4\u20132 defeat at Anfield. Kerkez\u2019s subsequent return to Bournemouth again saw him withdrawn at half time after being culpable for a goal in a 3\u20132 loss. Semenyo, who has four goals and an assist in six matches since his January switch, will look to press that advantage at Anfield.<\/p>\n
Wirtz v Rodri: After a slow start, Liverpool\u2019s \u00a3116 million signing ($158 million) has delivered six goals and six assists for the Reds, with eight of those contributions coming since Christmas. The challenge now is to produce on a grander stage. \u201cWirtz is a problem. Let\u2019s just call it as it is. It\u2019s an issue,\u201d Gary Neville barked after Liverpool\u2019s defeat to City in November. \u201cToday I thought Wirtz looked like a little boy. That can\u2019t be the case.\u201d Rodri, still attempting to rediscover his Ballon d\u2019Or-winning form, will be a significant physical test.<\/p>\n
Marc Gu\u00e9hi v Hugo Ekitik\u00e9: Gu\u00e9hi\u2019s aborted move to Anfield last summer and his decision to join City in January mean he could be unpopular at Anfield. Had the transfer not collapsed, he would be defending for Liverpool rather than lining up against them. Liverpool supporters will be willing Hugo Ekitik\u00e9 to prevail in that personal contest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Key one-on-one battles at Anfield that could decide Liverpool v Man City, with big stakes. Live tests<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6624,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,1056,969],"tags":[801,1047],"class_list":["post-6625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-man-city","category-premier-league","tag-antoine-semenyo","tag-champions-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}