Liverpool and Manchester City resume their rivalry for top spot when they go head to head in the Premier League this afternoon.Under Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, City and Liverpool have become the dominant forces in English football, sharing the past four Premier League titles between them.City, who have won three of those, delivered a warning shot to the pretenders to their crown with a hugely impressive 1-0 win at Chelsea last weekend.But it is Liverpool who boast the only unbeaten record after six game, even though their draw at Brentford last week is not something the Reds are happy with.The Blues crush ten-man Saints, with Werner going from zero to heroCity ended their long wait for a win away to Liverpool in emphatic fashion with a 4-1 victory in February but they have not won in front of a crowd at Anfield since 2003.Fatigue could take its toll on Guardiola’s men after a draining week. Three days after their statement win at Stamford Bridge, the English champions were beaten 2-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the French capital.Liverpool, by contrast, were able to ease off the gas long before the end of a 5-1 Champions League win over Porto.However, the Reds will be without right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was left out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad announced Thursday with a groin problem.”Obviously when you have something with your muscle, it’s not likely for Sunday,” said Klopp. “No muscle injury heals that quick.”Lacklustre Arsenal pull off a goalless draw at much better BrightonOn Friday, Guardiola credited Klopp with making him a better manager before this weekend’s top-of-the-table Premier League clash at Anfield.Manchester City fended off Liverpool’s 2018/19 title challenge despite the Reds amassing 97 points – a title-winning total in all but one previous Premier League season – and a fierce rivalry has developed between the clubs.Guardiola and Klopp were also dugout rivals in Germany’s Bundesliga between 2013 and 2015 as the Spaniard’s Bayern Munich dominated at the expense of Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund.”His (Klopp’s) teams helped me to become a better manager. He put me at another level, to think about it and to prove myself to be a better manager, to try to beat them,” Guardiola said.”That is the reason why I am still in this business. Some managers – and Jurgen is one of them – challenge you to make a step forward.”With Ronaldo starting from the bench, injury crippled Everton steals a point at Old TraffordKlopp’s Liverpool have been tough to beat at Anfield, with the Reds going 68 league games without defeat at home between April 2017 and January 2021.Manchester City’s 4-1 win at Anfield last season was their first victory on Liverpool turf in 18 years and has been attributed to the game being played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.But Guardiola insisted his team was relishing a vibrant Anfield and that any hostile atmosphere would not prevent his team from playing their game.”I am very pleased Anfield is full again. We can enjoy a fantastic atmosphere and hopefully we can handle it,” he added.”I am sure the players enjoy (more) to play with fans in Anfield than without. Everything is more alive, more difficult.”Left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko and midfielder Ilkay Gundogan will be missing from Guardiola’s squad on Sunday and will not be available until after October’s international break.’Pep puts his wife on the couch as if she were a player’According to Klopp – Manchester City remain the benchmark for Liverpool to catch.Chelsea and Manchester United have been talked up as title contenders this season after spending big in the transfer market – but Klopp believes City remain the team to beat.”They are still really, for me, probably the best team in Europe in the moment and it’s a tough one,” said Klopp on Friday.”Last weekend, they played Chelsea and everybody was talking about Chelsea, how good they are – and they are good, oh my God, they are really good – but City was clear, clear better that day.”In 21 meetings between the pair, both have won nine with three draws. But Klopp knows his side will have to be at their best to reach that number ten.”This is a really special game of the season, every year – always the same. It has to be high intense because if it’s not high intense, I would say then City is really difficult to play against,” he added.”You have to be brave, you have to be front-footed, you have to be cheeky in moments, you have to be really your best version and then, but only then, you have a chance.”Trent Alexander-Arnold and Thiago Alcantara will both be missing for the Reds due to injury, but Klopp is hopeful both will be fit to return after the international break.PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 7SaturdayMan Utd – Everton 1-1 (1-0)/Martial 43 – Townsend 65/Chelsea – Southampton 3-1 (1-0)/Chalobah 9, Werner 84, Chilwell 89 – Ward-Prowse 61 pen/Burnley – Norwich 0-0Leeds Utd – Watford 1-0 (1-0)/Llorente 18/Wolverhampton – Newcastle Utd 2-1 (1-1)/Hwang 20, 58 – Hendrick 41/Brighton – Arsenal 0-0Sunday16:00: (3.10) Crystal Palace (3.30) Leicester (2.50)16:00: (2.20) Tottenham (3.40) Aston Villa (3.60)16:00: (1.87) West Ham (3.70) Brentford (4.50)18:30: (2.85) Liverpool (3.40) Man.City (2.60)***odds are subject to change
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