Manchester City’s Brazilian Fernandinho has promised Liverpool his side will go to Anfield to win the game this Sunday, rather than play for a draw.
Last season at Anfield, the same fixture ended in a drab 0-0, with both teams seemingly happy to call it quits – although we did benefit from Riyad Mahrez’s late penalty miss.
“We go there and try to win the game. The mentality is always try to win the game, as we did from the first minute (against Atalanta),” he told the Echo.
“We had to defend a little bit more than usual but Sunday we go there and try to win the game from the first minute.
“There’s always a first time in the life, no? We are searching for this first time to win at Anfield.
“I am confident we can go there and try to win the game.”
Fernandinho is likely to play at centre-back in the absence of Aymeric Laporte, and alongside John Stones – it’s an area Liverpool would be smart to target.
What’s more, Claudio Bravo will be deputising for the injured Ederson – so City’s first-choice defence is by no means present.
We’re missing Joel Matip ourselves, and will have to hope Dejan Lovren has one of the good games he’s more than capable of having in huge fixtures.
Winning will see us go nine points clear of our rivals at the top of the Premier League table as we go into the hectic festive schedule.
We’ll need as big a lead as possible with the upcoming distraction of the Club World Championships, too.