As the weeks go by it is looking increasingly clear that the 2021/22 Premier League season will provide us with one of the best title battles we've ever seen.
Liverpool's 3-3 draw with Brentford and Chelsea's 1-0 defeat to Manchester City last weekend showed both are fallible, but it also told us that Pep Guardiola's side are not on the verge of falling away.
It was a hugely significant win for City, a game of tactical organisation and pressing intensity to cast aside the doubters after a slightly tricky start to the season. They are now level with Chelsea and one point behind Liverpool at the top, setting things up nicely for a six-pointer at Anfield that could have huge ramifications come the end of the season.
It will be a fascinating match, but probably not a high-scoring one. The 4-1 win for Man City last season flattered them slightly and came at a time when Liverpool were at a particularly low ebb; their defending will be considerably better than last time the teams met.
Nevertheless that game is a good place to start our preview, because – as usual in the ongoing tactical chess between Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp – lessons will have been learnt from their latest tricks.
In-game changes will decide the match
Man City's switch from a 4-5-1 to a 4-4-2 in the second half was the key moment in their 4-1 win. Liverpool had sat surprisingly deep throughout the match to limit City's attacking interplay, but once the switch had been made it left City essentially using two false nines (Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden) to operate between the lines.
Liverpool's defenders were confused, struggling without anyone to mark, as the midfield battle was suddenly overwhelmed by Ilkay Gundogan and Rodri (collecting the ball from deep) and the two false nines.
It is highly unlikely this will happen again, simply because Man City versus Liverpool games never repeat; it is to both managers' credit that the fixture continues to morph year after year.
However, we can expect a fair level of caution from both teams, with City and Liverpool far more concerned with avoiding defeat than picking up three points. Expect some relatively deep lines and pressing in short bursts, with compression of space through midfield creating a high-intensity but restrictive 90 minutes of football.
Their last meeting also reminded us that in-game changes will probably decide the outcome which, unfortunately, is not something we can tactically predict in a preview. Whatever the starting formations and early patterns, by half-time things will change as both Klopp and Guardiola make adaptations to alter the flow.
Nevertheless we can at least work out the first part, and draw attention to any tactical mismatches heading into Sunday's headline game.
Grealish weapon can help too-narrow Man City
Man City can be made to look a bit too narrow in their build-up play. That is why Chelsea began in a 3-5-2 last weekend with Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner sometimes as little as five yards from each other when City had the ball in order to cut off the pass into Rodri.
Chelsea's disconnectedness between the lines ultimately meant City could pen them in and grind them down, but there was method in Thomas Tuchel's approach – and he was not the first manager to shut down the central column.
This is how Southampton and Tottenham took points off Guardiola's team, who can look slow and directionless when forced to pass in a U-shape around a compact opposition shape.
Liverpool's narrow 4-3-3 will be similarly deep(ish), but their issue is that a lack of defensive support for the full-backs (Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah won't get back) could leave them exposed to Jack Grealish. He is the out-ball when City are forced wide, and so far the 27-year-old looks very sharp.
Grealish simply makes things happen, driving at the right-back or cutting inside to open up the defence; he tops the Premier League charts for key passes this season. With Trent Alexander-Arnold likely to miss the game, Grealish will fancy his chances up against James Milner, and certainly their battle down that side is one to keep an eye on.
Rodri may find it harder with Jota around
Rodri was brilliant against Chelsea to help City keep the ball and attack with speed, but Chelsea had nobody linking Lukaku and Werner with central midfield – making the Spaniard's job fairly easy.
Liverpool should be able to put him under more pressure and, like Spurs and Southampton this season, expose the softness in the City midfield when up against strong and cohesive counter-attackers.
Diogo Jota is very adept at dropping deep to collect the ball, and his link play on Sunday may prove too much for Rodri. These two will be in a tussle all game for those loose balls and Jota will be the fulcrum of any Liverpool counters.
Should he outmanouvre the City midfielder then Liverpool can evade the first wave of the press and set their full-backs away, galloping into the gaps that appear behind Guardiola's team.
But this is just a preview to the opening exchanges of a tense tactical match. It is how the two coaches react to how things unfold that will ultimately decide the game, and should it still be level on the hour mark we can anticipate both coaches making changes to hold onto what they have, rather than go for a winner.
It is going to be a long and bitter fight for the title. Better to stay in the conversation than risk a damaging defeat.
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
