Liverpool vs Manchester City: Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah will look at these defences and smell blood

Star spotting | Kevin De Bruyne slides in on Mo Salah and both are set to be at the centre of the action at Anfield
obbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
Tony Evans4 April 2018

It could be the shootout of the season. Liverpool against Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the Champions League is a two-legged tie that has the potential to be sensational.

The tone will be set early in tonight’s first meeting at Anfield. The atmosphere in front of the Kop will be frantic and the pace of the game frenetic. It is the perfect stage for the Premier League’s two standout players.

Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne - both of whom Jose Mourinho deemed not good enough for Chelsea - are the frontrunners for the Footballer of the Year award.

The Liverpool forward has been the bargain of the season. He cost a mere £36.9million from Roma in the summer and even the most optimistic Liverpool fan could not have expected the Egyptian to rack up 37 goals in all competitions so far.

De Bruyne is the fulcrum of a City team running away with the title. The Belgian dictates the pace for Pep Guardiola’s side and can hurt rivals in a variety of ways. Defenders backpedal in fear when the 26-year-old runs with the ball. He can jink and dribble past the tightest markers and his passing range is magnificent.

Both players will look at the opposition and scent blood.

Salah scored one in Liverpool’s 4-3 victory over City in January and could have added to his tally during the game. Guardiola loves his team to operate with a high defensive line, but that leaves acres of space behind that Salah can exploit with his blinding pace.

The City boss’s eagerness to have the ball played out from deep also presents opportunities. Salah is part of a fearsome pressing triumvirate, alongside Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino. Any imprecision in City’s passing in their own half, or poor control, will be seized upon by Liverpool’s forwards.

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City have an even more aggressive pack of pressing attackers and De Bruyne feeds them. The Belgian is at his most dangerous when he drifts deep in the midfield, picks up possession and weighs up his options. In his team’s 5-0 victory over Jurgen Klopp’s men in September, he surged at the centre of Liverpool’s back line, creating panic.

When De Brunye chooses to pass, he has a wealth of choice. The movement, speed and intelligence of David Silva, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus offer the City playmaker so many possibilities. The loss of Sergio Aguero to a knee injury means Guardiola’s attack will be a little blunter but there is still enough firepower to frighten Klopp’s defenders.

It takes clever, quick midfielders to stop De Brunye. If he gets the ball at his feet and the time to get his head up, it is a struggle to contain him. Liverpool’s central players are a little static and lack the mobility to shackle De Brunye over 180 minutes. He will get - and create - chances. The City man, more than anyone else, has the range of skills to dictate the tempo of this quarter-final.

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Neither side is equipped to shut down a game and squeeze the life out of the opposition. Expect goals - and plenty of them - and mistakes. Defending is likely to be scatterbrained, but entertainment is almost guaranteed.

The likeliest men to emerge as heroes are Salah and De Brunye. In the next week, both have a chance to elevate a standout season to the realms of greatness.

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