Liverpool face a daunting trip to the Etihad on Sunday, where they’ll face Manchester City - opponents who grated on the Reds during their last encounter.

Arne Slot’s side are sitting pretty atop the Premier League and a whopping 15 points in front of assumed title contenders City. The champions began the current season in dismal fashion, venturing on a seldom-before-seen winless run of seven games in all competitions during the Christmas period.

They’ve picked up slightly of late, avenging a 5-1 away defeat to Arsenal with a 4-0 drubbing of Newcastle, and will be a tricky test when the Reds march into Manchester. The last time these two teams collided in December 2024, sparks flew, and we take a look back at the incidents of that day, including Salah’s rage, Slot’s humorous post-match jibe and an apology issued by the match official.

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Salah’s anger

Cody Gakpo put his side one goal to the good inside 12 minutes when the two teams met at Anfield three months ago, and with very little fightback and a flurry of home chances, Salah doubled that lead when converting from the spot in the 78th minute.

After the goal, which all but sealed City’s fate, Bernardo Silva - who infamously refused to clap during the Reds’ Premier League guard of honour in 2020 - stuck his foot into a legal tackle with the match-sealing Egyptian.

However, as the ball went out of play and Salah lay on the ground, Silva unleashed a sly kick in the forward’s direction - something he didn't take kindly to. The 32-year-old shot up to his feet to confront Silva, fuming with his act, which went unnoticed by the referee. Both will likely square off against one another at the Etihad renewal.

Slot’s jokey jibe

After the match, Salah ensured his name remained in the headlines after admitting that the clash could be his ‘last against City at home’ - alluding to the fact that his contract would be expiring this summer. Talks have not progressed since this comment, but it was manager Slot's response to the admission that sparked slight controversy.

When asked about what Salah had revealed post-match, Slot took it upon himself to poke fun at their felled opponents, who have been charged with breaching the Premier League’s financial rules from 2009 to 2018.

“Maybe Mo knows more about the 115 [allegations] that are done, so he expects them not to be in the Premier League next season,” joked Slot before continuing. “The boring answer is always the same. This is not the place for me to talk about Mo’s contract. Maybe I’ve said already too much about the joke I’ve just made. So that will probably get the headlines. But it was a joke.”

Referee’s remorse

The match official, Chris Kavanagh, also came under slight fire during this fixture after repeated incidents of him accidentally blocking a Liverpool attack.

In the first half, he prevented the Reds from progressing up the pitch by disrupting a passage of play and got in the way of Alexis Mac Allister in the second half, which elicited an apology from the referee. Before the match kicked off, however, he also irked the home side’s captain, Virgil van Dijk, after undertaking the coin toss without him present.

“I was annoyed by the fact that he [referee Kavanagh] started the toss without me,” admitted a frustrated Van Dijk. “I was busy with my mascot and obviously took a little bit of time, but he started the coin toss quite quickly, so I was a little bit annoyed by that because I think, just wait.”