Liverpool come face-to-face with Manchester City this Sunday for the final instalment of the Jurgen Klopp vs Pep Guardiola rivalry.
The two managers have marked an era in the Premier League. Although Guardiola has far more titles than Klopp, the German and his Liverpool side have proven to be a real thorn in City’s paw over the last eight years. The last battle promises to be even bigger than those that have gone before it. It’s first vs second at Anfield with 10 games of the season left to play.
In the build up to the match, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold has been speaking about Man City to FourFourTwo. And it’s fair to say that his comments have ruffled a few feathers.
“Looking back on this era, although City have won more titles than us and have been more successful, our trophies mean more to our fanbase because of the situations of both clubs financially,” says Trent. “How both teams have built their teams and the manner in which we’ve done it probably means more to our fans.”
Never one to shy away from a comment or two, Chris Sutton was asked on the It’s All Kicking Off! podcast for his views on the Liverpool defender’s claim.
“I think that’s a little bit unnecessary really, a bit of a dig about City’s spending,” said the pundit. “It’s not like Liverpool have been paupers and not spent anything over the years. I understand that the trophy’s Trent Alexander-Arnold has won mean more to him in the Liverpool team but that’s a pretty obvious thing to say, of course they do. But the Manchester City players will flip that and say the complete opposite. Just unnecessary as much as anything. It’s been a great rivalry, let’s just leave it at that can’t we.”
Trent ruffles City feathers
It’s pretty clear what Alexander-Arnold was meaning by these comments here.
Neither Sutton nor his co-host on the podcast seem keen to mention it, but City do have some allegations hanging over them from the Premier League right now. Liverpool, they’ll be interested to note, do not.
Perhaps Trent is barking up the wrong tree bringing the fans into it. Success means as much to almost every fanbase, regardless of who they are.
But the thrust of his comment is clearly aimed at the allegedly rule-breaking way in which City have come about their trophy wins.
Seen through that lens, we’re not sure how anybody could really argue that Alexander-Arnold is wrong, here.
‘Unnecessary’ would also simply suggest what we already largely know; City and their alleged rule-breaking is not a top priority for a lot of people.
Many would rather simply ignore the fact that the greatest team of a generation have been accused of getting there by illicit means. People don’t want to know.
For Liverpool, it certainly does mean more to go up against a team like that and still come out on top, as they have done plenty of times.
If they can get a win one more time for Jurgen on Sunday, they could yet do so again, and in the most glorious way possible.