Rodri speaks out on Liverpool vs Man City as 'unbelievable' claim made

Whisper it quietly, but Liverpool are red-hot favourites for Sunday's massive Premier League match with Manchester City. Why? The reasons are numerous.

History is certainly on the Reds' side. City have only won once at Anfield since 2003 - and that came during the coronavirus-hit 2020-21 season when no fans were present in the ground.

But it what's happening presently that matters more. In terms of form, Liverpool could not be playing much better. Their return of 17 wins from 19 matches under new head coach Arne Slot means they top both the Premier League and the Champions League tables as well as booking their place in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

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City, in contrast, are in a full-on crisis. After losing five consecutive matches in all competitions, they then tossed away a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 at home to Slot's former club Feyenoord at the Etihad in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Pep Guardiola, like his opposite number this weekend, is struggling with injuries. But perhaps the player the City manager misses the most is the newly crowned Ballon d'Or winner, Rodri.

Sidelined for most if not all of the season with a cruel ACL injury, the absence of the player regarded as the best defensive midfielder in the world is already beginning to bite.

And ahead of the visit to Liverpool, Rodri has been talking about the team who look best placed to once more end City's Premier League dominance, as well as their talisman, Mohamed Salah.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football, the Spain international was asked who he has found it most difficult to play against. And Rodri said: "In the Premier League? My first year was the worst because we faced that Liverpool, that was unbelievable. Unbelievable.

"I think I would say, I think it would be the best team I will to face in my career, that Liverpool. But in that prime, Salah, I haven’t seen any player that way.

“With that, he was like a knife. Not that skilful, like many, like, let’s say Neymar or Vini (Vinicius Junior) or these kind of players, but like a knife, scoring, assisting.”

Should second-placed City lose on Sunday, they would find themselves 11 points behind the table-topping Reds.

And Ilkay Gundogan, who is likely to take Rodri's position in front of the defence, admits they cannot afford to pick up anything less than a point.

The Germany international said: "To stay in the title race probably, yes, because 11 points would be a huge gap. It's still early in the season.

"There are still a lot of games to play and a lot of things can happen, not just on our side but at every other team. But obviously we have to look at ourselves and try to do the things we can do better, as quickly as possible.

"We take it, stay humble, head down and try to put in the work in the next few days and prepare as well as possible for a tough game."