Man City vs. Liverpool has gone from being a sidenote on the calendar to one of the biggest clashes in world football in recent years, but which of the meetings since 2015 have been the most significant?
The Reds will lock horns with the reigning Premier League champions once again this weekend, with just one point separating the two sides heading into the contest.
We could find out about the extent of Liverpool’s title credentials on Saturday afternoon, with Jurgen Klopp‘s side hoping to go toe-to-toe with Man City for the biggest prize in English football yet again.
Every meeting between the two clubs is significant, but which has been the biggest of the lot under the current manager?
Here, we are taking a look back at some of the fixtures in which the two sides have battled it out for European and domestic honours, as well as how we fared in each one.
5. Keeping the train on track at Wembley
While it didn’t end with silverware on the day, the 2022 FA Cup semi-final is regarded by fans as one of the fondest memories from a season in which the Reds got so close to conquering the world.
Any victory over Pep Guardiola tastes sweet, but doing it at Wembley to keep the quadruple dream alive was yet another sign that Liverpool weren’t going anywhere.
Klopp’s side have made a habit of blowing Man City away in the first half before allowing them back into the game, and this was no exception.
An early header from Ibrahima Konate and a brilliant brace from Sadio Mane put the red half of Wembley in dreamland, before second-half goals from Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva made for a tense last few seconds.
4. A statement from the champions elect
If the tables were turned, Man City probably wouldn’t have a win that put them eight points clear in November in their own personal top five.
For Liverpool, however, 30 years in the wilderness with just a handful of close shaves to show for it had left us with bruises that didn’t allow us to think the unthinkable until it was done.
Beating the champions in that fashion despite already sitting in the driving seat was the marker we needed to lay down to our opponents and, perhaps more importantly, to ourselves.
Having achieved arguably the worst consolation prize conceivable of ‘greatest-ever runners-up’ with 97 points in 2018/19, being perfect was the only way we were going to get it done the following season.
3. The only ever final meeting
It feels difficult to believe given where the two clubs are at now, but the 2016 League Cup final in Klopp’s first season was the only time the two sides have competed directly for a trophy on the day.
It was also the only time the German has worn a suit for a Liverpool game, later explaining that he would prefer not to “unless it is a rule.”
Klopp’s first final for the Reds ended in disappointment at Wembley, but not before Philippe Coutinho produced one of our all-time great cup final let-offs with his 83rd-minute equaliser.
Reserve goalkeeper Willy Caballero was the hero for Manuel Pellegrini’s side, but it was to be the first of many finals under Klopp at the start of the most improbable journey.
2. Honours even in quadruple chase
April 2022 saw a pulsating encounter between the two best sides on the planet at that particular moment, with neither side quite getting what they wanted but both sides content in coming out unscathed.
The Reds were embroiled in an unprecedented hunt for all four major trophies and had to come from behind to earn themselves a point at a venue which has yielded scarce league success under the current manager.
Had things turned out differently, we could be now reminiscing about this game as the one which gave us the points and momentum to sweep the lot in 2021/22.
As it was, the Reds still sent out a message that they weren’t going anywhere and that they were once again capable of pushing a financially doped superpower all the way.
1. Salah breaks hearts at the Etihad
It doesn’t get more nerve-racking for a football supporter than seeing your team face a league rival on a European stage, particularly when the opposition happen to be in the ascendency.
The bad blood between Liverpool and Man City was starting to simmer en route to Kiev in 2017/18, with the Reds looking to burst Guardiola’s seemingly all-conquering blue bubble in his own backyard.
An early blow from Gabriel Jesus was almost compounded when Leroy Sane’s strike was ruled out before the break, leaving what promised to be a torturous second half ahead of us.
Mohamed Salah then stepped up to elicit the biggest explosion an Etihad away end has ever seen to send the Reds through to their first Champions League semi-final in a decade, before Roberto Firmino put the icing on the cake with 13 minutes to spare.
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