Man City and Liverpool brace for summit meeting

MANCHESTER: Manchester City and Liverpool meet at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday (Apr 10) in a Premier League summit meeting that could decide the title and set the tone for the rest of the season.

Just one point separates the two teams that have dominated English football in recent years after Liverpool - 14 points behind City at one stage - relentlessly hunted down their rivals.

Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have been involved in some epic battles in recent seasons, in particular in 2018/19 when City pipped Liverpool to the title by a single point despite a record points haul for the runners-up.

The two sides also meet in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley next week and could even play each other in the Champions League final.

Liverpool are aiming to win an unprecedented quadruple while City are trying to emulate the famous treble that Manchester United won in 1999.

The stakes could hardly be higher.

Klopp feels City's excellence has helped his side become title contenders again - Liverpool became English champions for the first time in 30 years in 2020, finishing 18 points ahead of City.

"I wouldn't say I'm thankful that City is that good but it didn't deny our development," said the German, whose side have not won in the league at the Etihad since 2015.

"The last four years since we stepped up a little bit and could close the gap to City is interesting.

"We pushed each other to incredible points tallies. Madness. I would have never thought these kind of things were possible, especially not in this league."

Klopp's men are breathing down City's necks after a remorseless 10-game winning run in the league and leapfrogging them on Sunday would land a big psychological blow.

But the Liverpool boss insists the race will be far from