Big Weekend: Liverpool v Man City, Kane, Benitez, Arsenal

Game to watch – Liverpool v Manchester City
How quickly perceptions shift. Just over a fortnight ago, Liverpool beat Paris Saint-Germain to record their sixth consecutive win in all competitions. They were the only team in their Champions League group to open with a victory, and were clear at the top of the Premier League table. The mood was overwhelmingly positive.

The next day, Manchester City were beaten at home by Lyon. Pep Guardiola had criticised his players for “simple” mistakes in their previous game – a win over Fulham – and had to watch from the stands as City stumbled in Europe. The mood was rather negative.

Had these two sides faced off that week, the dynamic would have been completely different. Yet City have won each of their four games since, conceding just once and reaching the Premier League summit once more. Liverpool have failed to win their last three matches, and questions are justifiably being asked.

In a bizarre way, City might be the best opponents for Liverpool at this stage. The Reds need to be stirred from their slumber, and hosting the only team above them in the league ought to sufficiently stoke that fire. And while precious few managers have Guardiola’s number, Jurgen Klopp seems to have it on speed dial.

Liverpool have won their last three meetings with City, including the 4-3 league classic and 3-0 Champions League demolition at Anfield. This is a chance for the Reds to make a similar statement.

But it is also an opportunity for City to prove they are still the team to beat. They are top of the league yet Arsenal are the only club they have faced in the top eight. Wolves are the other top-half side they have played, and they were made to fight for their point at Molineux.

Liverpool have not conceded a league goal at Anfield since February; City have not failed to score in an away league game since December. The last two times Liverpool failed to win three games in a row, they won their next game 4-0 (v Brighton in May) and 7-0 (v Maribor in October). City have dropped as many league points since the start of 2017/18 (16) as Brighton, Southampton and Fulham have this season alone, and fewer than Newcastle, Cardiff and Huddersfield (all 19). Liverpool have Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane; City have Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero and Leroy Sane.

Something has to give. It ended 2-3 the last time first played second in the Premier League. Expect a similar level of entertainment here.

Player to watch – Harry Kane
After the goal drought of two goals in 11 games for Tottenham and England comes the veritable deluge of four goals in his last three appearances. The signs suggest that wherever Harry Kane has been recently, he is finally back.

His problems started at the World Cup, where he scored six goals from nine shots in his first three games. He had just five shots in his last three matches, failing to score at all.

That carried over into his league form. He had 12 shots in his first six games this season, scoring just two goals. He has had as many shots in his subsequent three games, scoring four goals.

This is Kane nearing his devastating best, treating any and every game like a 90-minute shooting drill. His goal against Barcelona was surely perfected on the training ground, the sort of strike practised countless times by a player seeking constant improvement. If he really has played his way back into form, you fear for Cardiff on Saturday.

Manager to watch – Rafael Benitez

“Chelsea and Liverpool are the clearest, most exaggerated example of the way football is going: very intense, very collective, very tactical, very physical, and very direct. But, a short pass? Noooo. A feint? Noooo. A change of pace? Noooo. A one-two? A nutmeg? A backheel? Don’t be ridiculous. None of that. The extreme control and seriousness with which both teams played the semi-final neutralised any creative licence, any moments of exquisite skill. If football is going the way Chelsea and Liverpool are taking it, we had better be ready to wave goodbye to any expression of the cleverness and talent we have enjoyed for a century.”

Jorge Valdano would go on to describe Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final with Chelsea in May 2007 as “sh*t hanging from a stick”, a withering conclusion to his damning assessment of one of Rafael Benitez and Jose Mourinho’s many tactical battles of over a decade ago. They were often sold as intriguing chess matches between two of football’s greatest minds, but some saw it a little differently.

The clubs involved are very different now, but the two managers who once led the way in Europe are just as staunch in their beliefs. Fortunately for Benitez, the storm clouds gathering over his arch-nemesis have detracted from his own struggles. Mourinho might be the one in crisis, but Benitez is at the wheel of the sinking ship.

A meeting with Mike Ashley and his players is perhaps not the cure – particularly if his evening with the manager and squad is overshadowed by allegations of swearing at fans who wanted to make their voices heard. That was the last thing a club embroiled with infighting needed, as Saturday’s opponents well know.

Newcastle have already faced Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal this season, trying different tactics against each, but losing 2-1 every time. They need not fear a repeat of the 4-1 thrashing they suffered on their last visit to Old Trafford. United and Mourinho are the wounded animal; can Newcastle and Benitez display a rare killer instinct with the pressure off?

Teams to watch – Fulham and Arsenal
Fulham (90) and Arsenal (88) may rank eighth and tenth respectively for shots in the Premier League this season, but one can safely expect entertainment at Craven Cottage on Sunday. Burnley (142) are the only club to allow more shots than Fulham (122), with Arsenal (96) in seventh.

Also, Fulham’s seven games thus far have seen 24 goals scored – they, Manchester City and Bournemouth are the only clubs to rank above Arsenal (23) by that measure.

Oh, and the Cottagers have gone 51 league games without drawing 0-0, while Arsenal are on a run of 29 matches without a goalless stalemate.

And don’t forget that between them, they have had just nine 0-0 draws in their last 226 league games, and of their 55 meetings with one another since 1904, have drawn 0-0 just four times.

You can get odds of about 20/1, if you were wondering.

One-on-one battle to watch – Wilfried Zaha v Matt Doherty
“I know he’s said he would like me to attack more,” said Matt Doherty of Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill last month. “Maybe I’ll do that. When I first joined up it was my defending that was the problem. Now it’s my attacking.”

Both facets of the Wolves right wing-back’s game will have to be at optimum levels on Saturday. He will face tougher teams in the Premier League, but no individual opponents more tasking than Wilfried Zaha. Doherty has thus far come up against a blunt Nathan Redmond, a woeful Alexis Sanchez, a solid but uninspiring Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Andriy Yarmolenko on an off day. He struggled against Demarai Gray and Richarlison, but was able to nullify Raheem Sterling with the help of his teammates.

But Zaha is an entirely different proposition, a player capable of turning any and every game on its head in a single moment. He is Crystal Palace, and to neutralise him is to win half the battle. Palace simply do not create anywhere near as many chances without their stalwart, and if Doherty can shut him down, those misfiring Wolves forwards have more room to manoeuvre.

If Zaha is able to express himself and exert any influence on Saturday’s game at Molineux, Palace have every chance. And they certainly need it: they have only beaten Huddersfield since the opening-day victory over Fulham, and they face Everton (a), Arsenal (h), Chelsea (a), Tottenham (h) and Manchester United (a) between now and December.

Football League game to watch – Leeds v Brentford
The wheels loosened ever so briefly but, for once, they did not come off. The Leeds promotion bandwagon has managed to stay the course this time, even under immense pressure.

Thomas Christiansen had guided the Whites to the top of the Championship table after seven games of the 2017/18 season, but Leeds proceeded to lose eight of their next 11 games as they slipped into mid-table oblivion. The Dane was sacked by February, replaced by the hapless Paul Heckingbottom.

Marcelo Bielsa had guided the Whites to the top of the Championship table after seven games of this season, even avoiding the Millwall-shaped banana skin that Leeds had slipped on 12 months prior. A win over Preston in their eighth game suggested things might be different this time around; a subsequent defeat to Birmingham and draw with Sheffield Wednesday saw those familiar doubts creep back in.

A win over Hull was enough to massage the ego. “Leeds are one of the best sides I’ve seen in the Championship for a very long time,” said Tigers manager Nigel Adkins, who predicted that the current top two of Leeds and Middlesbrough would not change come May.

Leeds will know not to get ahead of themselves, particularly when tests such as Saturday’s early visit of Brentford lie in wait. The Bees are on a three-game winless run, but Dean Smith has guided his side into sixth, just five points behind the current leaders. Leeds will either pull further clear at the top, or be dragged back into yet another promotion scrap.

European game to watch – Benfica v Porto
The last time Benfica faced Porto in a league game without either sitting top of the Portuguese Primeira Liga was on January 11, 2014. A day later, Benfica won 2-0 to leapfrog both their bitter rivals and previous leaders Sporting Lisbon to assume their natural place as the country’s best side.

For the first time in ten league meetings, Benfica and Porto will face one another in similar circumstances, with Braga enjoying a wonderful start. Abel Ferreira’s side have not quite been one of Europe’s perfect eight, but five wins and one draw from six matches keeps Portugal’s two biggest sides in their shadow for now.

While Braga have a huge opportunity to extend their one-point lead at the top when they host fifth-placed Rio Ave on Saturday, Benfica host Porto 24 hours later for the honour of leading the chasing pack. This is the same old O Clássico with a slightly different dynamic.

Porto are unbeaten in their last seven games against Benfica, including April’s last-minute title-clinching victory at the Estádio da Luz. Both won their Champions League games in midweek, but something has to give here.

Matt Stead