You know, for me this Sunday at Anfield isn’t just another game, it’s like a measuring stick. We got beat pretty bad at their place last November, 3-0 it was. Honestly, that day we just weren’t good enough and the score showed it, which doesn’t always happen.
I remember saying it clear back then: they outplayed us for most of the first half. Still think Virgil’s header shouldn’t of been chalked off, either. That helped them, I believe, but anyway they were better. Simple. So now we gotta show something different, don’t we?
That whole time was rough. That loss started a real bad patch for us, losses piling up. It really knocked the belief around, for everyone. Even when we went on a long run without losing later, a mistake at Bournemouth from a set-piece kind of brought those old feelings back.
But things, they feel like they’re changing lately. We talked about needing to be better in both boxes, and you can see it. We qualified for the Champions League knockout stages strong. Last week against Newcastle, going behind early but winning 4-1? That showed something. The pressing intensity is coming back, which is so important to how I want us to play. Last season our pressing was much better, and now I’m starting to see that good development again.
Take Florian Wirtz, for example. Took him a bit to settle, but his work off the ball now is fantastic. That’s the biggest factor. Him and Hugo linking up better, too. They only played together for part of that City loss, so Sunday will be a real look at how far they’ve come.
This is the test, really. City are probably the best team there is with keeping the ball. But I see progression in our work without it, our work rate. The numbers shows it too—we’re giving up less, winning it back more, finishing chances. Earlier in the season we missed some big ones in these games.
Alexis in midfield said it right, I think we are a better team now and we improved quite a lot from that game. But talk is easy. We need to go show it. He’s been brilliant himself, giving us that control. Every game matters so much for the top four, so this one’s momentum is huge.
It’s not like the old title fights here, is it? Now it’s about cementing a top-four spot and going far in the cups. City themselves don’t have a great record at Anfield, just that one win without fans. This is the 200th time we’ve played them, imagine that.
So what happens Sunday writes the story for us going forward, I feel. A good result, a strong performance, it proves this progress is real. It could lift us for the FA Cup and Europe. Another setback, and the questions come back. Under the lights, we get our chance to show who we are now.
You start to see a team’s real identity not in how they celebrate wins, but in how they carry themselves before a battle like this one. The mood at Kirkby this week wasn’t nervous, it was focused. There’s a quiet understanding that we’ve rebuilt something piece by piece, and Sunday is about proving those pieces fit together against the very best. It’s not about fear, it’s about respect—for them, and for our own hard work.
I also think back to last season, and the difference is in the small moments. Previously, a single goal could deflate us. Now, like against Newcastle, conceding first just seems to make the players more determined. That shift, that’s a mentality you can’t really coach. It comes from weathering a storm together. That bad run we had, as painful as it was, might be the reason we’re tougher now. You don’t know what you’re made of until you’re forced to find out.
And in a way, having the title pressure off allows for a different kind of expression. The players can play with a bit more freedom, with more heart. The fans, they know what this rivalry means regardless of the table. That energy, that’s our extra man. It’s about seizing this moment, not for a trophy on Sunday, but for the belief that can carry us through the rest of the season. That’s what we’re really playing for.
