Manchester City\u2019s injury troubles appear to be easing just in time for Liverpool\u2019s visit to the Etihad, with Pep Guardiola confidently declaring that he now has \u201cweapons\u201d at his disposal once again \u2014 a clear signal that the Reds will need to be at their absolute best to come away with a result.<\/p>\n
Guardiola\u2019s confident message ahead of Liverpool clash<\/p>\n
Speaking to mancity.com before Sunday\u2019s highly anticipated showdown, Guardiola said:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see the bench now \u2014 we have weapons to change systems and dynamics. The players coming on can make a huge impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Spaniard, who led his team to a third-place finish last season, believes the return of key players has revitalised City\u2019s depth after a difficult spell with injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast season that couldn\u2019t happen, and that was the main reason [we struggled],\u201d he explained. \u201cNow we have strength in depth. Everyone can make a difference at any moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a bold statement before what promises to be another fierce battle between two of the Premier League\u2019s dominant forces in recent years.<\/p>\n
City will still be without Mateo Kovacic, who is sidelined until March 2026 with an ankle injury, according to premierleagueinjuries.com. Guardiola admitted the Croatian \u201cwill be out for a while,\u201d but said other key returns have boosted the squad\u2019s balance and options.<\/p>\n
Liverpool\u2019s response will reveal true title credentials<\/p>\n
From Liverpool\u2019s side, this fixture provides a major test of how far Arne Slot\u2019s team have come since the summer rebuild.<\/p>\n
The manager confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Alexander Isak is back in full training but cautioned fans not to expect him \u201cto be at his best immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n
Slot also revealed that Alisson Becker and Jeremie Frimpong should return after the international break \u2014 key reinforcements that will strengthen Liverpool\u2019s defence and overall structure.<\/p>\n
According to Opta\u2019s supercomputer, City have a 45.4% chance of victory compared to Liverpool\u2019s 27.7%, but history suggests that form and statistics rarely decide this fixture.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah is just one goal or assist away from surpassing Wayne Rooney\u2019s record for most goal involvements at a single club \u2014 and he has often delivered in this fixture.<\/p>\n
City may feel they\u2019ve regained their \u201cweapons,\u201d but Liverpool have been quietly sharpening theirs over the past two games \u2014 ready to strike when it matters most.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Manchester City\u2019s injury troubles appear to be easing just in time for Liverpool\u2019s visit to the Etihad, with Pep Guardiola confidently declaring that he now has \u201cweapons\u201d at his disposal once again \u2014 a clear signal that the Reds will need to be at their absolute best to come away with a result. Guardiola\u2019s confident …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":53909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/EOTK-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-13.jpg.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53907"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53910,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53907\/revisions\/53910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}