Former Arsenal star Paul Merson believes there will be trouble for Liverpool when they face Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday, with him predicting a 2-1 win for Pep Guardiola’s side.
The two title favourites, both of whom were in Champions League action in mid-week, will face off at Anfield in what Merson says will be a tough afternoon’s work for the hosts.
“I’m slightly favouring Manchester City. For me, it looks like hard work for Liverpool at the moment,” he wrote for Sky Sports. “Last week they had a great game against Chelsea but I think it took its toll on Jurgen Klopp’s team.
“I think they are going to fall asleep a couple of times during the game for City to punish them. If Liverpool can pick up a win they’ll be serious contenders for the title. However, a win for City and I think they’ll run away with it again. The big difference is that certain Liverpool players have to play all the time and that will take its toll.”
OPINION
Merson makes some excellent points in his prediction of a 2-1 victory for City. Liverpool have been through the gauntlet in the last week or so, facing Chelsea twice and then falling to a late defeat against Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday night. It’s going to be tough for them to recover from all that expended energy enough to take down Pep Guardiola’s side. Merson is right that certain Liverpool players have to play and that their tiredness could be the difference on Sunday. The likes of Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson, James Milner and Sadio Mane are automatic starters who haven’t had much of a rest so far this term. For them to rebound from a poor showing in Naples in time to take on City is a big ask. The champions are a terrific team who have started the new campaign just as well as Jurgen Klopp’s side. It’s certainly a 50-50 contest, but you’d have to slightly favour City at this stage.
