Liverpool news as Pep Guardiola survives nightmare Manchester City scenario but still remains on the brink of a ban
Pep Guardiola will, barring any personal surprises or changes, be on the touchline at Anfield next weekend for Liverpool’s blockbuster clash with Manchester City. This in itself is nothing out of the ordinary but it wasn’t always certain.
Like Arne Slot, who enters Sunday’s away Premier League match at Southampton with two yellow cards to his name, Guardiola went into the eventual 4-0 loss to Tottenham on the brink of a ban. Given how firey matches between Spurs and City have been in recent times, it was not a given that Guardiola would be able to simply avoid being booked.
He is often extremely animated during City matches no matter the state of play. When his side conspired to draw 3-3 with Tottenham last season he and Erling Haaland were left aghast and furious late on.
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Similarly, when it comes to facing Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp, Guardiola has been at his most energetic and expressive. It does not and has not always transpired to being a positive thing either. The now memed ‘twice’ image of Guardiola losing it on Merseyside was in a defeat for his side, for example.
City having Guardiola there to look over closely is surely an advantage, though, especially at a time whereby the team’s confidence is so brittle. On Saturday night they fell to a fifth defeat in a row, the first time that has happened at the club since 2006. It left them five points behind Liverpool already with the chance of that rising to eight.
When the two meet next weekend that gap could be extended to up to 11 points. Guardiola and City know they cannot afford it to get that far. For him to have been within a simple miss step of being in the stands for the game is genuinely massive and an undercurrent to the game which has gone without much attention.
Managers and bookings do not go together as commonly as players, hence why the bar for a ban is three rather than five. The impact is still significant, especially with Guardiola knowing in the back of his mind (or perhaps quite near the front of it), that it is Liverpool next.
It may or may not have been in his thoughts directly as Ange Postecoglou lead Tottenham to a famous win at the Etihad Stadium. Spurs crushed their opponents on the break and slided through a non-existent midfield time and time again.
Instead of being a ball of fury in the technical area, Guardiola was mystified and downbeat. He wasn’t shown a third yellow card of the season and therefore avoids a scenario in which he would have been banned for the Liverpool game. To that extent it is job done but that is a minor victory on a day of questions for the Spaniard.
Just over 12 months ago he wasn’t as careful. Ultimately it didn’t make a massive difference but this was something else. Premier League managers are being punished more and more by referees and fourth officials. Already this season there have been four (Andoni Iraola, Steve Cooper, Nuno Espirito Santo, and Russell Martin) to serve a suspension.
Slot would become the fifth when City visit should he be picked up for anything on Sunday at St Mary’s. He is currently level with Fabian Hurzeler, Enzo Maresca, Marco Silva, Julen Lopetegui, and Gary O’Neil, plus Guardiola, of course, on two. That means over half the league’s head coaches have at least two yellow cards across the opening 12 matchdays.
This is the tightrope Guardiola walked on Saturday and will continue to balance on in the Liverpool match. Just getting to that game will be a boost for City when they need it most.
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