Man City begin Liverpool preparations with new Champions League nightmare increasing worries

Winless in six following their latest capitulation, for Manchester City the season is currently going from bad to an utter nightmare. With Liverpool their next opponents at Anfield, they will be dreading not only Sunday's clash but the consequences of their poor form later down the line.

Arne Slot's side have been able to amass a Premier League points advantage nobody would have foreseen before the Dutchman took over the reins at Liverpool at the start of the season. Taking nothing away from the fact wins have escaped them only twice this year, their biggest challengers Man City have looked a shadow of their former selves.

Pep Guardiola's four-time back-to-back champions are now on a six-game winless streak, confirmed in the most embarrassing circumstances on Tuesday night.

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Hoping a Champions League tie with Feyenoord would give them some respite from their recent poor run, they took a 3-0 lead at the Etihad Stadium, only to end up drawing the match by conceding three after the 75th minute - the first team to do that in the competition's history, say Opta.

To compound the misery, fans of Slot's former club in the away section chanted the Liverpool head coach's name, with Dutchman up next for City at Anfield.

Guardiola and Man City could end the week 11 points behind the Reds in the English top-flight - a huge gap to overturn in the remainder of the season.

And their latest Champions League defeat could indirectly make that tough-looking task even more difficult to achieve, as they now seriously face only achieving qualification for the knockout rounds of European competition via the play-offs.

A record of two wins, two draws and one loss in the Champions League leaves them 15th in the new 'Swiss model' table for the 2024/25 season. With half of the current round played, they may yet slip further down the standings.

The new stipulations for the competition sees the top eight automatically reach the Round of 16 in the New Year. The teams that finish between ninth and 24th will then have to enter a two-legged play-off round.

As Liverpool were top of the table entering this week, they have escaped such worry and victory against Real Madrid would certainly help again. Man City, on the other hand, are slipping further and further away from the top eight.

If they are to play two extra matches this season, UEFA have allocated the midweek dates of February 11/12 and 18/19, 2025, for the play-offs. Scheduled around those dates for Man City are a potential FA Cup fourth round tie (Feb 8/9), a home match against Newcastle United (Feb 15) and most interestingly the Premier League meeting with Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium (Feb 22).