Liverpool vs Manchester City live updates: Premier League team ...

There were four other games in the Premier League yesterday.

The action got underway with Manchester United striking twice against the run of play against Everton at Old Trafford.

And Wolves kept their slim hopes of a European finish alive with victory at home against Fulham.

In the other two games, Luton stole a big point away to Crystal Palace while Bournemouth came from 2-0 down to draw with Sheffield United on the south coast.

And both teams are starting today's game on the back foot after Arsenal hit the front last evening.

Declan Rice headed his side into the lead in the first half and it looked as though they would be cruising to victory, but Aaron Ramsdale had other ideas.

Arsenal's No. 2 took far too long on the ball a yard from his goal line and Yoane Wissa's tackle diverted the ball into the net on the stroke of half time.

With Brentford doing a stellar job of keeping the home side at bay, there was late drama as Kai Havertz — who perhaps should not have still been on the pitch — headed past Mark Flekken in the 86th minute.

To relive last night's action as it happened, click here.

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Arsenal 2 Brentford 1 – Has Havertz changed the narrative? Why did Ramsdale make that mistake?

It was interesting to hear Manchester City's Kyle Walker admit he'd rather Liverpool win the title than Arsenal due to his Tottenham connections.

So here's a question for you Arsenal, Man City, and Liverpool fans (plus any neutrals that care to comment).

If your team couldn't win the Premier League, which of the other contenders would you prefer to win it?

Let us know in our discussion tab or at our email: [email protected].

Jurgen Klopp has defended Trent Alexander-Arnold’s comment that trophies “mean more” to Liverpool than Manchester City.

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Ruben Dias both questioned the remarks after Alexander-Arnold said Liverpool’s “trophies will mean more to us and our fanbase because of the situations at both clubs, financially”.

Klopp said the comments were not intended to be disrespectful and explained how the number of trophies City have won in comparison to Liverpool in the past 10 years can justify silverware carrying greater significance for his side.

“He’s born in Liverpool. He played through all youth teams. What would you think in this situation? One of our slogans that I love is ‘this means more’. And it means more to us. We have no clue what it means to other people, but what happens here means more to us.”

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Klopp defends Alexander-Arnold’s ‘this means more’ comments ahead of Liverpool vs Man City

Manchester City players Erling Haaland and Ruben Dias have questioned comments from Trent Alexander-Arnold that trophies “mean more” to Liverpool’s players and supporters.

City have won five of the last six Premier League titles and last season added the FA Cup and the club’s first ever Champions League title to secure a treble.

Liverpool — the only side to interrupt City’s league title domination in that timeframe — won the Carabao Cup last month and are top of the Premier League standings, one point above Pep Guardiola’s side.

The two clubs go head-to-head at Anfield in today's Premier League action in what could be a key match in the title race, and remarks from Liverpool full-back Alexander-Arnold have only served to build on a growing rivalry. Dive deeper below.

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Erling Haaland hits back at Trent Alexander-Arnold’s Liverpool ‘means more’ remark

Liverpool defender Alexander-Arnold stirred up controversy when he said Liverpool’s “trophies will mean more to us and our fanbase because of the situations at both clubs, financially”.

It caused a bit of a fuss.

We'll bring you reaction to his words, from both clubs, imminently.

Jurgen Klopp has said Ibrahima Konate was substituted off in Liverpool’s 5-1 Europa League victory over Sparta Prague as an injury “precaution” — three days ahead of his side’s Premier League clash against Manchester City.

Konate, 24, pulled up at the start of the second half in Prague after chasing back towards his own box when he appeared to suffer muscular discomfort. As soon as the ball went out of play, the central defender sat on the ground to receive medical attention from Liverpool’s physios.

Konate then walked off the pitch to be replaced by Virgil van Dijk. Klopp downplayed the severity of Konate’s injury but admitted that his availability for today's clash with City was uncertain.

“We don’t know yet. Ibou said to me when he passed me in that moment, ‘I thought if I do another sprint then it could be bad.’ So he said he should be fine, but we don’t know.”

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Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate substituted as injury ‘precaution’ – Jurgen Klopp

My personal combined team (with everyone fully fit) is: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Van Dijk, Robertson; Silva, Rodri, De Bruyne; Salah, Haaland, Foden.

Based on the players available today, I'd go: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Van Dijk, Robertson; Silva, Rodri, De Bruyne; Salah, Haaland, Foden.

Pretty stark that in the second XI only three Liverpool players make the cut.

Agree? Disagree? Let us know...

Manchester City only took three goal kicks in the derby and although they are no stranger to a centre-back rolling the ball square to Ederson, the Brazilian goalkeeper did in fact take all of them at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The first was quickly taken (but short, of course) as City tried to get on with the game in search of a first-half equaliser, while the second and third were rolled square to Ruben Dias so the Portuguese defender could play out to Rodri and City could build their attacks from the back.

As you might expect, this is typical of Pep Guardiola’s City as it eliminates the risk of challenging for a high ball and losing possession. They do like to punt it long from kick-off, but goal kicks are normally taken short, even if that is to draw pressing forwards in and then play long over the top of them.

For Guardiola, direct balls have their place — but not at goal kicks.

Liverpool had five goal kicks during their 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest with their approach consistent throughout. With the hosts sitting deep at the City Ground, Jurgen Klopp’s side were able to build play from the back under relatively little pressure.

All five were taken by goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, who always had plenty of options available with full-backs Conor Bradley and Andy Robertson pushing right out to the touchlines on either side. Centre-backs Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahim Konate found space between them.

Kelleher largely looked to captain Van Dijk, who is so comfortable in possession and so adept at switching play with his range of passing. Three of the five goal kicks were taken short to Van Dijk with no Forest player shutting him down. The other two went short to Konate and Robertson.

You can get involved using The Athletic's discussion tab at the top of the page to give your pre-match predictions, chat to other fans or ask us a question.

Feel free to email us at: [email protected] too.

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Martin Skrtel only shared a dressing room with Xabi Alonso for 18 months but he saw enough to know where the midfielder’s career was heading.

The pair were team-mates under Rafael Benitez at Liverpool from January 2008 when Skrtel arrived from Zenit Saint Petersburg until Alonso’s departure to Real Madrid in the summer of 2009.

“You could tell even back then. You thought: ‘He’s the type who will be a manager one day’,” says Skrtel. “When I came to Liverpool, what struck me about Xabi was the way he trained, the way he played, the way he talked, the way he thought about the game. So knowledgeable. A nice guy who absolutely loves football.”

He is the favourite to take over from Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool this summer but it is far from a straightforward process. They face competition from Bayern Munich, while Leverkusen are also hoping to convince him to stay for another year. Read more below...

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Martin Skrtel interview: ‘Xabi Alonso always looked like a manager’

Just to give you a heads up, we have absolutely loads of content to bring you ahead of the match.

Some of what's coming up shortly:

On November 25, 2023, the titans battled it out at the Etihad Stadium.

Erling Haaland gave City the lead in the first half, before Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold equalised 10 minutes from time.

City, as you might expect at home, slightly dominated possession, shots, shots on target, and corners, but Liverpool were happy with the draw in the end.

“Not in my lifetime,” Sir Alex Ferguson famously said in 2009, a year after the Abu Dhabi takeover, when asked whether Manchester United might one day find themselves looking up at their newly enriched neighbours Manchester City.

However, the tide started to turn when City beat them in the FA Cup semi-final in 2011 and then, in the most dramatic circumstances, pipped them to the Premier League title a year later.

Now City’s superiority has grown to the extent that United find themselves trying to emulate their neighbours.

This was another of those derby days when the gulf between the two clubs looks as wide as it did in the late 2000s when Ferguson and United’s supporters used to scoff at City’s new-found ambition. The Manchester derby feels so different these days.

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Man United have grand ambitions but derby day shows the gulf to City is huge – on and off the pitch

While for City, seven days ago, it was a joyous 3-1 victory against their bitter local rivals in the Manchester derby. Marcus Rashford put United ahead with a stunner, before Phil Foden's double and Erling Haaland's late strike ensured the city remained blue until their next clash.

On Wednesday, they beat FC Copenhagen 3-1 in the Champions League first leg to put them in a great position to progress after the second leg in Denmark.

City have won 17 of their last 18 matches in all competitions, with a 1-1 draw against Chelsea on February 17 the only slip-up, since a 2-2 home draw against the mighty Crystal Palace (my team).

Last Saturday, Liverpool were stuck at 0-0 against Nottingham Forest with 98 minutes on the clock. But then, Darwin Nunez guided home a controversial 99th-minute header to seal a hugely dramatic win and secure three priceless points to move them top of the league at the end of the matchweek.

While on Thursday, they thrashed Sparta Prague 5-1 away from home to take control of their Europa League round of 16 clash.

They have won seven games in a row in all competitions and nine in their last 10. Red-hot.