The bare fact is that Pep Guardiola has never won at Anfield. Nor have Sergio Aguero or David Silva, arguably the two greatest players in Manchester City’s history. In a decade when City have accumulated more points than anyone else in the Premier League, they have never returned from Liverpool’s historic home with three in their grasp.
On Sunday they face a Liverpool team who have taken 58 points out of a possible 60 and who are unbeaten at home in 45 league matches. They travel west without the injured Ederson, Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane and with doubts if David Silva and Rodri will be fit. None of Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Kevin de Bruyne or Aguero have scored at Anfield in City's colours. And yet Guardiola will not go to Merseyside expecting to suffer defeat or feeling that Liverpool are favourites. That is simply not his way of thinking. Defeatism runs contrary to his ethos.
“What does it mean to be an outsider?” he asked. “People say: ‘You’re an outsider or not, an underdog or not’. I’ve never gone into a game feeling like an outsider and feeling like I’m not going to win. I never felt that.
“I’m not going to take the bus to Anfield thinking I’m going to lose the game. That has never happened in my career. Always I had the feeling that if we do the special things we plan to do we will have our chance to win.”
That opportunity presented itself last year, with Riyad Mahrez blazing a late penalty over the bar in a stalemate. The Algerian could have become the first City player to score an Anfield winner since Nicolas Anelka in 2003. City’s previous victory came in 1981 and, to put that into context, Asa Hartford, scorer of their opener in that 3-1 triumph, recently turned 69. Joe Corrigan, who made a string of saves in the City goal then, is already in his seventies.
Regardless of Guardiola’s definition, City were underdogs for much of the time before his arrival, but he still struggles to rationalise their recent record. “I cannot explain it,” he said. “I can explain my periods here when we play there. Last season we were in the last minute to win and missed the penalty so sometimes it happens. It is not easy to go to Camp Nou or Madrid or Bayern Munich or Juventus or the biggest stages and win away. I don’t believe much in statistics but 38 years for one time means how difficult it is at Anfield.”
Facing Jurgen Klopp’s teams also presents certain difficulties. The German’s haul of eight victories against Guardiola is three more than anyone else has even mustered. Perhaps as remarkable is that, while Guardiola is indelibly associated with possession football, Klopp’s sides have had more of the ball on three occasions, even if the Catalan’s sides prevailed on each, most recently August’s Community Shield. City only had 47 per cent of possession but won on penalties.
“Normally it’s happened in my career at the clubs I’ve been at that we controlled possession,” Guardiola added. “We have the belief that when you have the ball you can create more and concede less. But when that’s not happened it’s because [Borussia] Dortmund were a good team and Liverpool were a good team and the way they play they have the quality to do that.”
Guardiola's explanation he did not compromise to face Klopp; rather, as in last season's 0-0 draw, his teams were forced on to the back foot by the intensity and excellence of their opponents. They simply had to adapt to face formidable teams. It is why he thinks City will need to produce their best performance of the season to end their Anfield hoodoo.
“To win these kind of games you have to be at the top level,” he added. “Definitely. We can’t be half, half. The way they play they demand incredible attention in all the details for 95 minutes. I’m pretty sure that if there’s a chance to win at Anfield it’s when you believe you’re going to win the game. If you just think, ‘let’s see what happens’, against that team there I think it’s not possible [to win]. The only chance we have is if we play like we are and try to create chances to score goals. That’s the only way I believe we can do it: not just at Anfield but all the stadiums around the world.”
