Anfield will stage a changed version of English football’s defining rivalry on Sunday, as Liverpool host Manchester City with neither Jürgen Klopp nor Pep Guardiola in the dugout. Yet the fixture arrives with familiar weight: City are top after five straight league wins under Enzo Maresca, while Andoni Iraola’s unbeaten Liverpool need a landmark result to turn a cautious opening into momentum.
For the first time since 2016, City will visit Liverpool without Guardiola as their manager. Klopp’s departure in the summer of 2024, when he took charge of Germany, had already brought one side of their era to a close. Guardiola left City at the end of last season, opening the door for Maresca and, at Anfield, a new chapter in a contest that once shaped the direction of the English game.
The two former managers drove a rivalry that raised standards across the league and acknowledged that their competition improved them both. From 2017-18 through 2024-25, every English title was won by either City or Liverpool: Guardiola claimed six with City, while Liverpool won once under Klopp and once under Arne Slot.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal ended that sequence last season, becoming English champions for the first time in 22 years. Slot did not survive the aftermath at Liverpool, with the club appointing Iraola following his dismissal.
City arrive top amid off-field uncertainty
Maresca’s side have made the strongest possible start to the campaign, standing alone as the only club to win each of their opening five matches. Their trip to Merseyside, however, is their first fixture since an independent commission found City guilty of 115 breaches of Premier League financial regulations.
The possible punishment ranges from a financial penalty to points deductions, the removal of titles or even expulsion from the competition. Maresca said on Thursday that the mood inside his squad remained “fantastic”, adding that he had asked his players to stay focused and positive.
Liverpool sit sixth after two victories and three draws. Iraola’s team have not lost, but Sunday offers a more immediate measure of their progress than an unbeaten record alone. A home win over the league leaders would give the Basque coach’s project an early defining evening by the docks.
New faces around an old occasion
Liverpool could be without Alexander Isak, who was injured while on Sweden duty. The forward leads the club’s Premier League scoring chart with four goals, one fewer than City striker Erling Haaland. Cody Gakpo is also a doubt after joining up with the Netherlands.
The meeting also underlines how much has altered in both squads. Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Nathan Aké, Curtis Jones and Ibrahima Konaté are among the established figures no longer involved in this fixture.
There is still history in the name Liverpool against Manchester City, but Sunday’s contest belongs to a different generation: Iraola seeking lift-off at Anfield, Maresca protecting a perfect start, and City trying to keep football’s attention on the pitch while their wider case hangs over the club.
