JOE BERNSTEIN: Pep Guardiola rarely changes for the opposition. Ironically, he has done so with Liverpool previously and got his fingers burned, most notably when Ilkay Gundogan was deployed wide in the Champions League.
Guardiola will be wary of Liverpool’s threat on the counter and Jurgen Klopp will have noted how Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer caused problems for Rodri and the City defence.
He’ll still try and control the game as City do but the four defenders won’t be as eager to step into midfield, as Manuel Akanji did at Stamford Bridge, leaving Ruben Dias isolated against Darwin Nunez.
Likewise, Josko Gvardiol might be less keen to burst forward knowing Mo Salah can catch him out the other way.I don’t expect wholesale tactical changes from Guardiola but maybe a tweak in the game plan to be a bit more solid.
Maybe Jack Grealish will get the nod over Jeremy Doku on the left because he’s become good at defending from the front.It’ll be interesting to see if there is a rare outing for the lesser-spotted Kelvin Phillips particularly if Rodri isn’t 100 per cent.
City would look less fragile if Phillips joined Rodri and Bernardo in a midfield three. But that would leave Pep with the unenviable job of choosing only two of Grealish, Foden, Doku and Alvarez. It wouldn’t surprise you if Guardiola refused to get swayed by the Chelsea game and went for it again!
