There might be a Europa League tie to contend with first on Thursday, but there’s no denying where most Liverpool fans’ minds are right now.
It doesn’t get any bigger than Sunday’s visit of Manchester City. Everyone of a red persuasion will know this could be the game that makes or breaks Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes.
The Reds hold the most slender of leads heading into the game, with just one point separating the two sides at the top of the table. Injuries have threatened to derail Jürgen Klopp’s side recently, but they’ve found a way to keep winning, and maintain those hopes of a quadruple.
The returns of Darwin Núñez and Dominik Szoboszlai were a welcome relief at the weekend, especially with the former popping up with the all-important winner at Nottingham Forest. There could be an even bigger boost on the way this week.
Every fan would have been hoping for Mohamed Salah to join his fellow teammates at the City Ground at the weekend — alas, he’d already been ruled out by Klopp in the build-up to the game. The German did suggest though that a return in time for the visit of Pep Guardiola’s side was in the works.
It will of course be a big ask for the Egyptian to make an immediate impact, whether it’s from the start or off the bench, against City after his recent absence. If he was watching the defending champions on Sunday though, Salah will surely be licking his lips at the prospect of facing them.
In the end, it proved to be a fairly comfortable victory for City in the Manchester derby, although United had them sweating for a good while. What’s more, Erik ten Hag’s side probably should have extended their 1-0 advantage before the break.
Marcus Rashford’s opener was a bolt from the blue, but he had an even better opportunity during that first half at the Etihad. With all of City’s players camped in the United half, the England international was presented with the chance to race towards goal from Bruno Fernandes’ lofted pass.
It seemed like a golden opportunity for someone of his talent, but Rashford failed to get to grips with the ball, heading it straight down and giving Kyle Walker the chance to nip in front and take the ball away. At 2-0, the title race could have taken an almighty twist.
It was the sort of chance you couldn’t see Salah passing up. How do we know? Well, he’s already done it once against City.
In fact, the Egyptian’s odds were more stacked against him than Rashford when the two sides met at Anfield last season. Salah had to cleverly spin João Cancelo before bearing down on goal, where he of course made no mistake.
And that’s not the only example of his composure in that situation. We of course saw similar against Manchester United back in 2020, and just a few weeks ago he pulled the same trick out of the bag against Brentford, albeit with a much shorter distance to cover.
City has been guilty of giving up presentable chances recently. Chelsea should have made them pay more dearly when they visited the Etihad last month.
You can’t imagine Liverpool would make the same mistakes. If Salah’s involved, you can bet he will succeed where Rashford failed.