“Exceptional” – Guardiola waxes lyrical about key Liverpool and Man City players ahead of crunch clash

Pep Guardiola highlights the ‘exceptional’ standard of full-backs at Liverpool and Manchester City

Speaking in the pre-match presser ahead of the Manchester City vs Liverpool fixture as quoted by ManchesterCityFC.com, Pep Guardiola highlighted the extraordinary quality of full-backs that both the teams possess.

The modern game has developed to a great extent with wing-backs and full-backs becoming an integral part of it. There is more creative onus on these players, who are considered to be pseudo-wingers and even outright attackers in most instances.

The Spanish manager took the opportunity to share his insight on this. He also highlighted how the full-backs can exploit the spaces that are usually left open by teams that try to play much deeper in a compact setting.

In a conversation before the Manchester City vs Liverpool game, the former Barcelona manager shed light on the importance of the full-backs in today’s day and age.

“Yeah you’re right, today the position of full-backs is more important in how teams must play. When teams play narrow and deep, the spaces are there, and when they have quality. I agree, the four full-backs on Sunday, they are exceptional, you are right.”

The rise of the full-backs

Both Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have largely benefitted from having supremely talented full-backs on their side. The Citizens mainly deploy Joao Cancelo as left-back and Kyle Walker on the right side.

Whilst this duo may have shown great potential, our full-backs have been performing at a whole other level this campaign. Andrew Robertson has managed 14 assists in 36 matches whereas Cancelo has bagged a comparatively mere eight assists in 41 matches for Man City.

Trent Alexander-Arnold is having one of his most fruitful seasons in terms of goal contributions as he has already bagged two goals and notched up 17 assists in 36 appearances across all competitions for the Reds so far this season. In comparison, Walker has only managed a solitary goal and two assists in 28 matches across all competitions for the Citizens this campaign.

This goes to show that our regular fullbacks have made more meaningful direct goal contributions this term. Both Trent and Robertson have grown immensely under the former Borussia Dortmund manager.

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They have now become an integral part of our attacking setup with the 23-year-old English international spraying those inch-perfect long balls from the right flank. The Scottish full-back also shows great hunger and determination going forward, assisting the Liverpool attackers quite capably.

The club faithful would thus be hopeful that Trent and Robertson will be able to display their magic once again at the Etihad. We must also beware of their Man City counterparts who can put up an exquisite display on any given day. This battle of the full-backs is bound to be legendary and may even be the deciding factor tonight.