Liverpool vs Man City: Why Pep Guardiola's injury crisis is NOT real

Arne Slot's Liverpool have been rampant so far this season.

Every rival fan's expectation that Liverpool would be lost without Jurgen Klopp has been emphatically smashed, as the Reds lead the way in both the Champions League and the Premier League.

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At first, the narrative was that Liverpool hadn't faced a 'good' team yet, and so the team would inevitably falter when faced with a higher standard of opposition.

However, after standout wins over Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid in recent weeks, Liverpool stand taller than ever, with a not-so-hidden smug smile on their face.

Rather fortunately, unlike previous seasons gone by, Liverpool's form has come during a period where their direct title rivals have been in disarray.

Arsenal have had a flurry of defensive injuries, in addition to the absence of their captain Martin Odegaard, who is regarded by many fans as not only the Gunners' best player but the key to their system on the pitch.

Meanwhile, over at Manchester City, they too have been hit by injuries, including the absence of Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, and John Stones, although their fundamental problem is the loss of Ballon d'Or winner Rodri in midfield, and now his understudy Mateo Kovacic.

And while City themselves have not been too vocal about their crisis in comparison to Arsenal, Pep Guardiola has been running out of excuses for his side's shambolic run of form, now six consecutive games in all competitions without a win.

The full extent of City's injuries

In his most recent quotes with the media, Pep Guardiola has been sending mixed messages.

Speaking to Amazon Prime ahead of City's 3-3 draw to Feyenoord in the Champions League this week, he made clear that the losses his team had suffered were important to his team's growth - presumably to get them to refocus.

However, he then retreated to putting the disastrous run of form down to his injuries.

Now, while this quote is certainly accurate - these injuries have happened to City this season - by no means are City missing all of these players right now.

Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish and Savinho have all had different injuries throughout the campaign so far, but all at different times.

No team ever has every player in the squad available for selection. If you're lucky it might happen for one game.

So just like when Arsenal fans attempt to claim that their season is now back on track because Odegaard is back - the Arsenal captain has only had 21 games on the sidelines for Arsenal and Norway over the last four seasons. Players get injured, it's inevitable.

City most definitely have had their fair share of injuries this season, which may have contributed to one or two disappointing performances, but six in a row? I'm not convinced.

Both of Liverpool's title rivals sit firmly behind the Reds, with City currently eight points behind and Arsenal nine points behind.

The notion that Liverpool's position at the top of the table can be put down to an easy start to the season is downright disrespectful and naive.

But could Liverpool slip up anytime soon?

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Rival fans' comparisons with 2020/21

The sheer amount of injuries that Guardiola speaks of in his quotes directly suggests that they're having a Liverpool 2020/21-esque season, although they haven't experienced having all four senior centre-backs sidelined at the same time, in addition to their defensive midfield teammates who attempts to cover, also getting injured.

The Liverpool players in question were Virgil Van Dijk, Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, Ozan Kabak, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, all missing at the time.

As such, City should well be better than this, so Sunday's game at Anfield is set to be a massive opportunity for Liverpool to take advantage and go 11 points clear in the Premier League.

However, Arsenal fans - now buoyed by their injury 'crisis' coming to an end - are convinced that Liverpool are not a threat to their title hopes, citing the 2020/21 season as evidence of an inevitable collapse.

Their notion is that Liverpool 'bottled it' in the 2020/21 season, because the Reds were on 28 points after 13 games, leading the Premier League, with City eight points behind, although they had a game in hand.

Although, funnily enough, Arsenal aren't in the top 10 in the screenshot they use as evidence, but I digress.

Injuries can kill a team's season, and the injuries that Liverpool suffered were significant enough to cause real problems, but Liverpool weren't expected to retain the title and surely they can be forgiven for finishing third in an injury-ridden off-season after winning 196 points over the two seasons prior?

Expectations for the season and blocking out the noise

To recap, Arsenal fans believe Liverpool will 'bottle the title again', even though Arsenal are nine points behind a team that is supposedly in a false position at the top of the table because they haven't played anyone good yet. All sounds pretty logical.

Meanwhile, City's fate looks much worse than their injuries suggest - Kovacic, Doku, Rodri and Oscar Bobb out.

Through dealing with different injuries at different times, they've often had players come in and fill in the hole left by any new absentee, and given the depth of experience within the Citizens side, six winless games in a row is a streak that is totally inconceivable.

Liverpool fans will be licking their lips to add another manager to the 'Arne Slot penitentiary', and that may come on Sunday if they can continue their fine record against City at Anfield.

But regardless of what anyone says, let's not get carried away with it all. This team can win the title, and should things continue as they are, then Liverpool might win the title.

Expectations were for a secure place in the top four, and if the team begins to fall away, because it's under a new manager, and the side also has injuries - as every team does - then don't let it become a trend as City and Arsenal have experienced.

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