The winner in clashes between the big clubs is often influenced more by the players who don\u2019t play, rather than those who do. The game between Manchester City and Liverpool\u00a0this Saturday may well suffer from this as both teams could well be without, arguably, their best player.<\/p>\n
In a surprising move, J\u00fcrgen Klopp has announced that Philippe Coutinho<\/a> has not made the squad for Liverpool\u2019s trip to Manchester City. Barcelona\u2019s pursuit of Coutinho throughout the summer clearly unsettled the Brazilian<\/a>, and his desire to leave the Reds culminated in a transfer request on the eve of the opening match of the season.<\/p>\n The midfielder’s subsequent back injury and sickness miraculously healed in time for international duty, but\u00a0he has thus far not featured for the Reds this season. Due to his lack of game time, just two substitute appearances for Brazil since the season started, Klopp has chosen not to include him in the group travelling to the Etihad stadium on Saturday morning.\u00a0He will stay in Liverpool and carry on training to get fully fit for the upcoming busy run of games.<\/p>\n Vincent Kompany<\/a> is highly unlikely to feature in\u00a0the game after receiving a minor calf injury while on international duty with Belgium. Kompany was ruled out of the game against Greece on Sunday and is now unlikely to play in the match\u00a0against Liverpool.<\/p>\n The loss of Kompany, although to be expected, is nonetheless a huge blow for the men from Manchester. His return to fitness has coincided with an improvement in City\u2019s defensive performances. Kompany\u2019s influence at the back is highlighted by the difference in results; City have lost only 10%<\/a>\u00a0of games with him in the side,\u00a0but\u00a0when he has not featured\u00a0that figure has moved up to\u00a018%. His loss may well force a change in formation from Pep Guardiola’s preferred three at the back to\u00a0a more traditional four-man defence.<\/p>\n Of the two players, it would seem that a City have received the more damaging blow by losing Kompany.\u00a0Liverpool have adjusted to playing without Coutinho in the side, and will likely name an unchanged forward line and possibly midfield too. After their attacking performance against Watford, Hoffenheim and Arsenal, forward play is clearly not a weakness for Klopp’s side.\u00a0Defensive cover, on the other hand,\u00a0is one of the few areas in which\u00a0City are fallible. Time will tell as to whether the loss of the Belgian will be enough to swing the tie in the favour of Liverpool.<\/p>\n Main PhotoVincent Kompany<\/h2>\n
Summary<\/h2>\n
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>