Title clash showcases the changed role of the modern fullback

MANCHESTER, England : The days when a fullback's job was simply to stop the opposition winger and provide some support to the wide player in front of him are long gone and no-one has done more to radically change the position than Pep Guardiola and Juergen Klopp.

Attacking fullbacks, making a vital contribution with crosses and overlapping runs, have long been a part of the modern game across the world.

Yet Sunday's Premier League title clash between Manchester City and Liverpool will showcase the different ways in which Guardiola and Klopp have changed the position into a crucial element of their attacking approaches.

Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson represent the evolution of the fullback into the main source of crosses and goal-creation.

Klopp's pressing style relies on his attacking players being able to close down the opposition central defence and his midfield shutting down passing routes for opponents trying to play out from the back.

Within that system, his fullbacks play the key role of pushing high and limiting out-balls to wide areas adding to the sense of suffocation opponents feel when they have the ball against Liverpool.

The vulnerability that approach leaves is to the ball over the top, into the spaces left by the advanced fullbacks, but so often central defenders Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip are alert and quick enough to get across and neutralise the threat.

With the ball, the advanced positions of Robertson and Alexander-Arnold create overloads in wide areas where Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah operate in the inside channels.

But it is not only about creating pressure - with and without the ball - because the Liverpool pair are so good with the ball at their feet in the final third that