After a long six weeks without any club football, Liverpool are finally back in action today following the 2022 World Cup and sportswashing spectacular from Qatar, as Jürgen Klopp’s returning Reds get the headline match of the Round of 16 in the League Cup when they take on recent domestic rivals and perennial presumptive Premier League title favourites Manchester City and manager Pep Guardiola.
Both sides will be without a number of key stars due to the World Cup, but more often than not both would select sides mixed with youth and reserve players for England’s second cup competition in any case. When City and Liverpool face off, though, more often than nots and other such expectations tend to go out the window and so it’s not impossible to imagine Guardiola and Klopp both starting the strongest teams they have at their disposal in this pre-Christmas clash. Whatever happens, stick with The Liverpool Offside for full coverage of Thursday evening’s kickoff under the lights from the Etihad.