On Playing Manchester City: A New Rivalry?

Why trying to to define a new rivalry actually sells the two
clubs short

For the past two seasons (and arguably three, since Liverpool only fell off the title hunt in the
advanced stages of the Champions
League in 2017/18), Manchester
City v Liverpool and its reverse fixture have become two of the
most meaningful games in the Premier League calendar.

It might be worth reviewing the recent records to show how
little space there is between the two sides.

In the 2017/18 season, Manchester City won the league as Centurions, with
Liverpool giving them one of their only two losses of the season
(the delightful 4-3 in January prior to the two Champions League
Quarter-Final legs that knocked Manchester City out of the
competition as Liverpool progressed to the final). While earlier in
the season City beat Liverpool 5-0 at the Etihad (after Sadio Mané
was sent off with a straight red for dangerous play after his high
boot challenge on Ederson), these three meaningful fixtures near
the season’s end would set the tone for the next few years.

Liverpool fans will certainly remember the 2018/19 results, as
the Reds lost the Premier League to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City
by one point, breaking the club points record in the process. Reds
fans bemoan the narrow margins in both fixtures, as the Reds drew
0-0 at Anfield in a hard-fought game, and lost 2-1 at the Etihad,
with Mané’s effort being ruled no goal by the narrowest of margins.
Had Liverpool changed just one of those results for the better,
they would have won their 19^th league title a year
early.

In the League-winning campaign of 2019/20, Liverpool righted
those wrongs, winning the game that mattered by defeating
Manchester City 3-1 at Anfield in a game that left Guardiola
shouting uselessly at the fourth official (he’ll be gutted to
learn, as I’ve previously noted, that the calls in the match have been
confirmed as correct). While City did hammer Liverpool 4-0 at the
Etihad, they did so immediately after the Reds had been crowned
champions in what was a dead rubber.

In terms of silverware, there’s a lot of space between the two
sides, with Liverpool’s 19 league titles dwarfing City’s six, and
Liverpool’s 63 total honors* more than doubling Manchester City’s
26.

While the two clubs are close in FA Cups and League Cups
(Liverpool having a one-cup advantage in both categories with seven
and eight, respectively), Liverpool have historically massively
outperformed Manchester City in Europe with six European Cups,
three EUFA/Europa League Cups, four UEFA Super Cups and one FIFA
Club World Cup (compared to Manchester City’s lone UEFA Cup
Winner’s Cup).

Photo
by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Numbers, though, never tell the whole story of a potential
rivalry, and every single one of these meetings might stand out to
fans.

Oddly, for me one of the loses is most cemented in my
memory.

Many say that the 2-1 loss at the Etihad cost us the title in
2018/19 season. Leaving post-season reflection aside, though, I
can’t recall being gutted at the result on the night. That match
was quite possibly one of the best-quality matches I have ever
seen, and it was lost (and won) on the narrowest of margins. Had
Liverpool taken a point or three, I doubt City would have
complained.

I watched that match in rapturous attention, and at around 60’ I
remember being struck by how lucky I was to be watching and
cheering for a team this good — and, at the same time, how
incredible it was that two sides who were this good at
once were battling it out at that level.

I was in Liverpool for the match, watching in Motel on Fleet
Street after having just seen us demolish Arsenal a few days before. The holiday period can be a
blur if the results don’t pull themselves away from the noise (I
could tell you very little about last season’s Wolves and Sheffield
United matches bar that I almost fell down some stairs at one of
them).

But in 2018/19, both fixtures around the New Year stood out.
That win against Arsenal was memorable, and not just because of
Bobby Firmino’s insistence on embarrassing the entirety of the
Arsenal defense.

No, the most memorable element for me was actually Arsenal
scoring. Before the ball was in the center circle for kickoff at
0-1, Anfield made it clear that the goal was a blip, something that
happened in error and would soon be rectified. The level of noise
spurring the Reds – who had dominated so much early on that the
Arsenal defense seemed shattered, broken and yelling at each other
before 20 minutes had gone – to get the equalizer and then the
winner was incredible, simultaneous, and effective.

We won 5-1. That victory was inevitable was palpable in the
ground.

Photo
by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

This audible and collective level of belief in the side was
before the long stretch of late goals and 1-0s that
carried Liverpool to the title in 2019/20; this was before
Barcelona 4-0, and before we all had a reason to believe that this
Reds team could come back from anything. I’m sure the sense of
unwavering belief in the side didn’t start there, but it does in my
memory.

And then five days later, we lost to City. And I couldn’t really
manage to be sad. I would love to say that I knew then what we
would go on to accomplish, but I can’t claim to that level of
prescience. I just knew very distinctly then that I was watching
something special. I had a great night out. I met friends that
night who remain friends now. We all did a lot of singing.

A lot of my best memories are located in my mind via football
matches and moments. This match is one of the only memories I have
where the fixture that locates my memories – that I use as a
shorthand of “where I was when” – is both positive and a
loss.

We all remember where we were when we came back against
Barcelona, incredulous with happiness. We all remember where we
were when we lost to Stoke, devastated by the dishonor to Steven
Gerrard.

For me, this Manchester City game sticks out because I remember
where I was when we lost, and my memories are rosy. I don’t have
another loss like that.

What that suggests to me is that whatever this Liverpool side
has with Manchester City is special. Facing the challenge of
high-class opposition functions to highlight just how good you are.
Guardiola’s anger in losing at Anfield last season underscores the
stakes.

Photo
by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images

Are these sides rivals? Is this the new cross-city rivalry of
the Premier League era?

Personally, I don’t think the sides have been at the same level
for long enough to establish a rivalry. For me, rivalries are more
than just “two very good teams competing with each other for a
title for three seasons” — it needs to be sustained.

But at the bottom of it all, the “rivalry” title doesn’t
particularly matter. Football is defined by moments, defined by
journeys over the course of a season. Even without fans in the
stadium, we can mark our days and weeks and months with fixture
lists. With “Where I Was When.”

If Manchester City — or Liverpool! — stop competing with each
other on the highest domestic levels over the next few seasons,
their competitiveness may have been a moment, and not a rivalry.
But even so, the two sides, led the two remarkable managers, have
given us memory enough to leave a mark on fans of either club.

And in the end, those memories matter. They’re what collectively
define the life of a football supporter. And this weekend, we have
the chance make more of them. Manchester City may need the points
more than Liverpool, but I back us to go there and emphatically
take them.

*This includes Charity/Community Shields; without this
cup, Liverpool would have 48 total honors and Manchester City would
have 20.