The Premier League returns with a serious bang on Saturday as top two Manchester City and Liverpool do battle at the Etihad Stadium.
There’s just one point separating the 2022/23 treble winners and Jurgen Klopp’s Reds as the sides jostle to end the weekend at the top of England’s top flight. Both have designs on the title, making the next edition of this modern rivalry a must-see fixture.
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Man City and Liverpool have grown to detest one another thanks to a series of high-pressure classics in the Premier League and Europe. The Merseyside outfit have been City’s closest challengers over the past four to five years and the two sides find themselves in a title battle once again.
The kick-off time may have caught the eye of some, so here’s why the two teams are facing off in Saturday’s early game.
The clash between Man City and Liverpool is the first game of the Premier League weekend, kicking off at 12:30 GMT on Saturday 25 November.
Saturday’s early game is not usually used for a fixture of this magnitude. It would more commonly be placed in the 17:30 GMT slot on Saturday or instead be played on Sunday.
Klopp has been very vocal about how much he dislikes playing Saturday’s 12:30 match after an international break, given Liverpool have featured in it much more frequently than anyone else. This will be the 14th 12:30/12:45 kick-off following an international break since Klopp joined Liverpool, which is eight more than Tottenham and Chelsea in second.
He said recently: “How can you put a game like this on Saturday at 12.30pm? Honestly, the people making the decisions, they cannot feel football. It is just not possible. This is the moment the world pays the most to see a football game. And by the way, the players will all come back on the same plane, all the South American players, picking them up from different countries.
“You have to fight your way through the most difficult league in the world and be ready on Thursday and on Sunday, and Thursday. And if the Premier League has the opportunity to do it, be ready on Saturday at 12.30pm!”
Generally, the 16:30 Sunday fixture is reserved for the biggest game of the weekend and aired by Sky Sports as they own that time slot. They are entitled to 19 first picks out of the 32 matches shown in that slot per season.
The reason they are playing at 12:30 on Saturday is Man City are scheduled to face RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday evening. Were they to play in the Sunday slot, there would not be enough of a turnaround before they face the Bundesliga side.
Sky chose to televise this game in the 12:30 slot, although there were hopes that it could be played at 17:30 on Saturday. That was not approved by local stakeholders and the police.
Next week, Liverpool host LASK in the Europa League on Thursday night before playing at Anfield again on Sunday when they face Fulham. City then take on Tottenham later that day at 16:30.
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