Liverpool just gave Man City something invaluable ahead of Premier League title showdown

It all feels very much like the Autumn and Winter of 2019.

Everyone expected Manchester City to win the Premier League title again, and they have their own ambitions to win the Champions League. But a key injury (or quite a few key injuries) has dented the momentum at the start of the season at the Etihad and Pep Guardiola's side are struggling.

Meanwhile, over at Anfield, Liverpool just don't know how to lose. One setback against Nottingham Forest has been put firmly behind them this season and they are doing to City what City have done to them so many more times. Leaving them behind.

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In 2020, after the season was paused midway through, Liverpool put enough points on the board at the start of the campaign to render any City fightback irrelevant. Sunday could mark the point of no return that City haven't experienced since that campaign five years ago.

Liverpool added defending European champions Real Madrid to their list of beaten opponents on Wednesday, making Kylian Mbappe and Co look ordinary. If City were already nervous about their Anfield trip, watching Real dismantled so easily won't have done anything to help.

Even if City were buoyed by Trent Alexander-Arnold's fitness issues, Connor Bradley's superb performance against Madrid showed the confidence and quality in the ranks in Arne Slot's squad. Even Darwin Nunez looks like an elite striker at times.

Bradley may be injured and it may be a blessing in disguise. He was brilliant in similar circumstances against City at Anfield last season so a half-fit Alexander-Arnold could actually be a preferable option for the Blues despite his talent.

On paper and on form, City will be beaten on Sunday and their title defence will be in tatters. City have shipped seven goals in their last two games and all have been self-inflicted errors against a pacey attack. It plays entirely into Liverpool's hands.

The other factor firmly against City is that they don't win at Anfield. They got three points in the 2020/21 season but there were no fans - and they haven't won at Liverpool with fans present since 2003. Betfair have calculated that City are underdogs in terms of pre-match odds for the first time in a Premier League game since 2017.

So with everything going against City, they travel to Merseyside with nothing to lose. Everyone is expecting the form book to continue, so could that actually play into their hands for once?

The under-fire defence are leaking chances and making mistakes, Erling Haaland has been snatching at opportunities, and the youngsters in the team look in desperate need of a rest. What better opportunity to solve all the problems with a coupon-busting win at the league leaders?

If City let Liverpool run through them, they will lose again. If they go back to their principles, trust Pep Guardiola, and just enjoy a big game in a noisy stadium, maybe it could be the spark they need. The worst that can happen is what everyone expects to happen anyway.