Manchester City defeated Olympiacos 3-0 in the middle of the week. This is Guardiola's 3 consecutive games without conceding a goal. In January a year ago, that was Manchester City's last 4 unbeaten matches. Since the shameful loss to Leicester at home 2:5, Manchester City have played 7 games without losing and only conceded 3 goals. The success of
is largely due to the rise of Laporte and Dias, the central defender partner. They are the core position of the defense, but tonight they will face the biggest test so far, facing the forward of Liverpool. Line, their offensive genius is so great that Diogo Jota may have to sit on the bench despite his hat-trick in the midweek 5-0 victory over Atlanta.
Guardiola insisted that at least six clubs are competing for the championship this season, while Manchester City and Liverpool are still the top two in the Premier League. However, since they last met in July, their advantage has been almost reversed, when Manchester City won easily 4-0, shattering Klopp's hopes of breaking the Premier League points record.
At that time, Manchester City's offense was the strongest in the Premier League, breaking the 100 goals record for the second time in three years, becoming the league's most scoring team for three consecutive seasons. At the same time, Liverpool has the best defense for the second consecutive season. This is the first time the Red Army won the Premier League title in 30 years under the leadership of Van Dijk's defense.
But injuries turned everything upside down. Injury to the knee cruciate ligament has caused the loss of Van Dijk this season and Liverpool have conceded 15 goals, similar to West Brom (16) and Leeds (17). However, in terms of scoring, only Tottenham and Chelsea scored more goals than Liverpool, who scored 17 goals in 7 games.
On the other hand, Manchester City only scored 9 goals in the first 6 games, which is the worst record since Gua Shuai coached, but their defense ranked second in the Premier League and only conceded 8 goals. Guardiola has lost the support of striker double stars Aguero and Jesus, his attention has turned to guarantee the victory.
lasted 18 months to find a candidate to replace Captain Kompany, and finally Manchester City signed the Portuguese international Diaz from Benfica for 62 million pounds. In the key games of last season, Manchester City was in a slump, especially when Laporte was absent, but Diaz brought stability to the defense.
In the 1-0 victory over Sheffield United last week, Diaz's defense helped Manchester City secure a narrow victory. Along with him, Laporte is one of the best defenders in the Premier League. In fact, Manchester City's defense has been poor, and the arrival of Dias means that Manchester City has a new strong defensive partner.
"These guys give us stability," Guardiola said. "Last season there were no two central defenders. We were struggling. Of course, due to the number of games, it is impossible to take care of every game."
It's no surprise to see them rest during the game. But now, they have the responsibility to pass Liverpool's test, and Dias and Laporte, the rapidly developing defense partner, will be exciting.
