London (AFP)

Relegated to six points Liverpool, author of a start of the season, the challenge of Sunday's clash at Anfield is more than arithmetic for Manchester City: it is to find the superb display last year.

The championship "is never finished in November," trumpeted Pep Guardiola in a press conference on Friday. But a gap of nine points between the two teams would strengthen the dream of the Reds to finally snatch a championship 30 years later.

For City, it will be important to avoid a third defeat in 12 days, more than the entire season 2017/2018 and a length of four conceded last year.

Since the beginning of the season, City no longer looks like the machine to win the last two seasons, unlike Liverpool who has dropped only two points out of 33 so far.

A major challenge for the Citizens, whose last success at Anfield dates back to 2002/2003 and the last to the end of 1981.

It often promises hell in the defense of Citizens, forgetting a little faster than last season (0-0), it had been a penalty missed by Mahrez late in the game so that City does not prevails.

Difficult yet not to do the same this year, as the blue sky rear guard seems weakened since the injury in late August Aymeric Laporte, absent until the end of winter.

- The attack can also progress -

Having not bothered to replace the Belgian Vincent Kompany, returned to the country, City ended up with the only John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi in the axis.

The first returned recently after being injured for a few weeks while the second has delivered cataclysmic benefits in both defeats against promoted Norwich (3-2) and home against Wolverhampton (0-2).

The prospect of seeing, in addition, to tumble the offensive trident of Reds Salah-Firmino-Mane on a goal kept by the Chilean Claudio Bravo rather than Ederson, injured, is also not reassuring.

"Currently, Liverpool is the strongest team in the world," acknowledged Guardiola, who is also waiting for his attack at the turn.

Despite 34 goals in 11 games, including almost a quarter against Watford (8-0), the coach has often pointed out his lack of precision in the last or the penultimate gesture.

A defect screaming in both defeats, but also last week in the victory torn off (2-1) against Southampton, 19th, where it took them 70 minutes and 19 shots to frame a shot.

At the beginning of the season, when he was offensively offended, City often resorted to a bombardment of centers on the opposing surface, while his attackers do not denote by their size.

- Liverpool, a domination in trompe l'oeil? -

Against Southampton, they tried 57 centers - plus 17 corners - the third highest total in the Premier League since the company Opta counted.

But City does not leave defeated. Liverpool will leave more space than misclassified and should not idealize the beginning of the season of men Jürgen Klopp, whose balance sheet masks victories often laborious.

Out of 13 wins in 18 games this season, 8 were scored by a goal scored often at the end of the match, as at Aston Villa last Saturday, where the Reds scored twice between 87th and 94th minutes (2 -1).

Liverpool also conceded 8 times the opener or was led in one match, to win three times in the end, to draw four times and only give in front of Naples (2-0) in the Champions League .

Against City, his most formidable opponent, not sure Liverpool can rely on the last minutes where the rage of their coach seems to own the team.

© 2019 AFP