As we approach 2024, Liverpool and Man City are separated by just two points. Ladies and gentlemen, buckle up—we’re going again.
Even though Jurgen Klopp’s team struggled in both the 2020–21 and 2022–23 seasons, they have consistently shown themselves to be Pep Guardiola’s team’s most formidable adversaries since the Spaniard took over at the Etihad in 2016. Currently leading the Premier League, they appear to have moved over their transitional difficulties from the previous season to once again establish themselves as such.
The Reds have won every major award since Klopp took over, although each victory has only been one so far. After winning the FIFA Club World Cup earlier this month, Guardiola’s team can now make the same claim, albeit they have also won numerous Premier League crowns and domestic cup victories.
Due to playing a lower level than their competitors, City has fallen behind in this year’s title race despite their remarkable achievements in Saudi Arabia. However, they surpassed the Gunners into third place on goal differential in gameweek 20 with to a 2-0 victory over Sheffield United, despite playing before both Liverpool and Arsenal.
They were only denied second place by Aston Villa’s dramatic 3-2 victory over Burnley at home. Klopp’s team leads the Villans by goal differential and still has a game remaining. With 19 games completed before their matchup with Newcastle United on New Year’s Day, they are still two points ahead of both City and Arsenal.
As the season enters its second half, Liverpool is fully aware of what will happen next as City attempts to overtake them. Title charges begin here, with both teams coming out stronger each time following the holiday season and fully capable of putting together extended unbeaten streaks in the process.
When both teams have fought it out for the championship, they have progressed to the last day of play, with the Reds painfully falling short on two occasions by only one point. In contrast, Liverpool had their best league season ever in 2020, ending a 30-year drought to win the English championship, the one season that City’s standards fell.
Because of this, the managers of both teams have a great deal of respect for one another. Klopp and Guardiola’s rivalry dates back to their time managing Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich in Germany, which precedes English football. Things are a little harsher and more acrimonious elsewhere.
When Liverpool and City play, supporters of both teams have frequently made headlines for the wrong reasons, such as throwing missiles and chanting tragic lines. As a result, Greater Manchester police decided that the match last month had to start at 12.30 p.m. on a Saturday.
On their team bus in 2019, the City team was notoriously caught on camera mocking Liverpool with an offensive and demeaning chant. Similarly, their clumsy guard-of-honour during the Reds’ Premier League victory game at the Etihad the following year did not go unnoticed.
Sometimes, for example, there is affection and respect amongst former teammates and international colleagues who are on opposing sides of the conflict. However, a fight that broke out between Joe Gomez and Raheem Sterling while on England’s soil a few days following Liverpool’s 3-1 victory over Man City in November 2019 shows they’re not exactly best friends.
As a result, the competition is complicated since neither manager wants to fan the fires in order to motivate their nearest title opponent. However, one story claims that the bad blood in the relationship dates back to a time before Guardiola, Klopp, and both teams’ ascent to the top of the league.
Liverpool made an unsuccessful attempt to capture Gareth Barry from Aston Villa during the summer of 2008, while Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group successfully acquired Man City and signed Robinho as their first major acquisition. Rafa Benitez’s team finished second in the Premier League that season, only losing out to Manchester United for the championship, while City came in tenth.
However, Man City signed Barry in the summer of 2009, despite Liverpool’s continued interest in him. The England international completed a £12 million move to the Etihad as part of a £120 million shopping binge. He later contributed to the team’s FA Cup victory in 2011, their first trophy under Sheikh Mansour’s ownership, and
On the other hand, the Reds would have a brief downturn, only once making it to the Champions League and contending for the Premier League title prior to Klopp’s Anfield makeover in 2017–18. However, neither team was aware of this when Barry moved in 2009, and Benitez expressed his disappointment at losing out on his long-term goal, if not outright bitterness.
The Spaniard stated at the time, “Maybe it’s just me, but in this market, the top level, I don’t think money is the most important thing.” “Everybody at this level makes a lot of money.
Do you make the greatest choices for your job and do what is best for you professionally? Sometimes you will make bad decisions while acting solely for financial gain, and this summer I have been taken aback by a few choices, including Barry’s.
“I won’t give too much away, but it was obviously done entirely for financial gain. For me, though, the athletes’ passion is what matters most.
The Athletic reported last month that Benitez’s remarks had infuriated Man City management, and their sources suggested that the incident was ultimately responsible for the enmity that exists between the two teams to this day.
Since then, the Etihad boardroom has not been pleased with remarks made by John W. Henry and Ian Ayre about City’s £400 million stadium naming rights agreement with Etihad Airways in 2011, Peter Moore about their transfer expenditures in 2017, and Jurgen Klopp on their financial strength under Arab ownership the previous season.
In the meantime, Liverpool and City reached a £1 million settlement in 2013 following the purported hacking of Liverpool’s Scout7 recruitment database. Due to the “age of the alleged concerns” and the settlement between the two clubs, the FA announced in 2019 that the Reds will not face any disciplinary action. This was paid without the club or the accused people recognizing any guilt or wrongdoing.
