New Delhi, Oct 6 (IANS) As Liverpool take on Manchester City in one of the Premier League’s biggest rivalries, defender Kilos Kerkez spoke about the challenge of facing Man City, stating that Liverpool must be their best to get the best possible result.
Having won all five games in the Premier League so far, Enzo Maresca’s side will be looking to continue its fine early-season form against Liverpool on Sunday at Anfield. City hammered Liverpool 4-0 in their last meeting, when the sides played an FA Cup quarter-final at the Etihad Stadium in April.
“We are analysing everything ahead of the next game, so we will know what to expect from every player of the opposition. We do that for every game, and we come really prepared, and the Manchester City match will be no different. They are top of the table right now, and we are sixth, so we know it’s a big game for us,” said Kerkez to JioStar. “We know City are a top side, and we must be at our best to get the best possible result from the game. Everyone knows about the rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester City. These are the games you want to play in.”
City have won all three meetings with Liverpool last term, winning 3-0 in the league meeting at the Etihad before a dramatic late turnaround at Anfield in February.
“We will do everything we can to defeat Manchester City and get the three points for our fans. It’s my fourth year in the Premier League, and I can say that the league is always difficult. It’s not like the other leagues, where if you’re placed third or fourth on the table and play against an 18th- or 19th-ranked team, you win easily. You can lose that game easily if you’re not 100 per cent prepared. This is the best league, the toughest league, so I love to be here,” he added.
Sunday’s match will be the first back after an extensive international break, with City running out 5-3 winners over Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium in a wildly entertaining game just before the players joined their national sides.
Liverpool, meanwhile, won 1-0 at Bournemouth in their last game before the international window, taking them to seven games unbeaten across all competitions at the start of the new season.
Kerkez also reflected on Liverpool needing defensive improvements as a key learning from the initial games; he said, “It’s been really disappointing to concede so many goals early on in the season for us especially as defenders, we want clean sheets, and attackers want to score. So, we have worked to correct those things this week, so I think it should get better once the matches resume.
“We had meetings, we had video analysis for the defenders always, so we want to improve a lot in that regard, and we can with the quality we have, and we should. We know we must be better at the back. It’s still early in the season, so there’s time to fix it. We just have to keep working and stay focused on the next game.”
Man City are currently on top of the points table with five win in as many games, while Liverpool are sixth with two wins and three draws from five games.
IANS
bc/vi