Just three days removed from their meeting in the League Cup final, Liverpool and Manchester City will do battle again in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
It was Manuel Pellegrini's side who were celebrating at Wembley on Sunday, but failure to back that up with another win this week could prove to be fatal to their title hopes.
Liverpool
© AFP
Another year, another cup final defeat for Jurgen Klopp.
The former Borussia Dortmund boss has now reached a cup final in each of his last five seasons as a manager, but has lost the last four following Sunday's defeat at Wembley.
In truth, his side probably got more than they deserved in taking the match all the way to penalties, having only equalised late in normal time after City, and in particular former Liverpool player Raheem Sterling, had missed chances to kill them off.
That will do nothing to soften the blow of losing via a shootout, though, and it is now up to Klopp to pick his side back up and get them ready for another contest against the very side who were responsible for inflicting such disappointment.
The angle of immediate revenge may well be the best one for Klopp to take, with only pride to play for in terms of league position this season. A victory could lift them up to seventh, but they would still be six points adrift of the top four.
Instead, with the League Cup now out of the way, Liverpool's full focus could switch to the Europa League, where they have been handed a mouth-watering draw against Manchester United in the last 16 - the first time that English football's two most successful sides will have ever taken their bitter rivalry to the continental stage.
Before that, though, Liverpool take on United's local rivals and Crystal Palace in the space of four days, and with only two wins from their last seven league games, they are in real danger of slumping into the bottom half of the table - they could even start Wednesday's match below Chelsea in the standings, with the Blues in action on Tuesday night.
While a top-four finish is effectively already beyond them, a top-half finish must be considered the bare minimum. The last time that they suffered the ignominy of finishing in the bottom half of the table was the last time they were relegated, in 1953-54, some five years before Bill Shankly set the wheels in motion for Liverpool to become one of the world's biggest clubs.
Victory over Man City would give them back-to-back league wins for the first time this calendar year, but their home record will not inspire optimism. Liverpool are yet to win a league game at Anfield in 2016 and have picked up the same number of points in front of their own fans as relegation-threatened pair Newcastle United and Swansea City.
However, the Klopp factor means that Liverpool are capable of pulling off an outstanding performance on a big occasion, which City are all too aware of having been on the wrong end of one at the Etihad Stadium earlier this season.
Recent form: DLWLDW
Recent form (all competitions): DLWDWL
Man City
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Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini can now breathe a little easier having got his hands on a piece of silverware in his final season at the club.
The Chilean has oozed class throughout his dealings regarding Pep Guardiola's impending arrival, but deep down he would have been desperate not to sign off on the back of a second consecutive trophyless season.
He is unlikely to settle for just the League Cup, though. His side already have one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals and will feel that the Premier League title is still within their grasp.
The omens are certainly good - the last two teams to have won the League Cup have gone on to win the title that same season, including Man City themselves just two years ago.
There is no doubt that they have work to do, though. While Arsenal typically slipped up on City's weekend off from league action, Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur both picked up vital victories that bore the hallmarks of potential champions.
That leaves City now seven adrift of Spurs and nine off Leicester, with the latter gap potentially growing to 12 points before City's visit to Liverpool should the Foxes overcome West Bromwich Albion at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night.
City's game in hand, which they will be confident of winning against Newcastle, could prove to be a pivotal part of the title race, as was the case two years ago when they pipped Liverpool to becoming champions of England.
However, by the time Pellegrini's side kick off on Tuesday it would have been a month since their last Premier League victory, with damaging back-to-back home losses to Leicester and Spurs in their last two league outings. They haven't lost three in a row in the top flight since November 2008.
There will be concerns regarding their away form too. While no team has amassed more home points in the league this season, eight other clubs have picked up either the same number or more points than City have managed on the road. Even more surprisingly, only six teams have scored fewer away goals than the Citizens.
They are unbeaten on their league travels since before Christmas, but have also only won two of their last nine away games and have a particularly poor record on recent visits to Anfield.
Recent form: DWDWLL
Recent form (all competitions): WLLLWW
Team News
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Klopp raised a few eyebrows when he handed Lucas Leiva the task of keeping Sergio Aguero quiet in the League Cup final, but the makeshift centre-back was arguably the man of the match at Wembley.
However, he is a major doubt for Wednesday's game due to a muscular injury, which could open the door for Dejan Lovren to return to the side following a recent illness.
There are question marks over a number of Liverpool centre-backs, in fact, with Martin Skrtel nearing his return from a hamstring injury and Mamadou Sakho unlikely to be risked after being subbed off against his will on Sunday following a clash of heads.
The walking wounded from Wembley includes Daniel Sturridge, who was unable to take a penalty due to cramp and could be rested by Klopp in favour of Divock Origi, Christian Benteke or Adam Lallana.
Philippe Coutinho got Liverpool's goal in the League Cup final to make it five in his six appearances against the Citizens, and should he play on Wednesday then it would be his 100th appearance in the Premier League.
For Man City, Yaya Toure, who scored the winning spot kick on Sunday, will undergo a late fitness test due to a foot problem, but Pellegrini has no other new injury concerns.
Kevin De Bruyne (knee), Fabian Delph (Achilles) and Samir Nasri (hamstring) remain sidelined, but Joe Hart is expected to return to the starting XI despite Wilfredo Caballero's heroics in the shootout.
Aguero will lead the line again having failed to score in his three previous appearances at Anfield, despite netting in all four of his home league games against Liverpool.
Pellegrini has also confirmed that Sterling, who scored 23 goals in 129 appearances for Liverpool, will start on what will be his first return to Anfield since his acrimonious departure last summer.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Mignolet; Clyne, Toure, Lovren, Moreno; Milner, Henderson, Can; Coutinho, Firmino, Lallana
Man City possible starting lineup:
Hart; Sagna, Kompany, Otamendi, Clichy; Fernandinho, Fernando, Navas, Silva, Sterling; Aguero
Head To Head
They may have missed out in the League Cup on Sunday, but Liverpool have had the better of the league meetings between these two sides in recent years, winning three of the last four.
The Reds are also unbeaten in their last 12 league games against City at Anfield, winning eight and drawing four since City's last win there in May 2003, when Nicolas Anelka scored a brace against his former club to overturn a Milan Baros opener.
The most recent league meeting between the sides saw Liverpool race into a three-goal lead inside 32 minutes at the Etihad in November before running out 4-1 winners, while the corresponding fixture last season, almost a year to the day, saw Liverpool win 2-1.
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We say: Liverpool 1-1 Man City
Liverpool will be eager for revenge, but City need a win from this match, particularly if Leicester move 12 points clear on Tuesday night. After Sunday's meeting went all the way to penalties, there could again be nothing to separate these two sides, and we're going for a share of the spoils at 1-1.
Barney Corkhill
