Manchester City are visiting Anfield to play against Liverpool on Sunday. A game like this would have drawn the most attention in the Premier League in the last season when the two teams had the closest title race of their own.

However, it's a different case in the 2022-23 season. Liverpool have been in such a poor form so far that they won only two of the past eight games and currently rank 11th on the standings table. By contrast, City are second with seven wins and two draws. Judging by the fact that Liverpool failed in the championship competition by only one point last season, they are unlikely to be a legit title contender this season.

However, Pep Guardiola, manager of City, still spared no words praising Liverpool at the press conference on Friday. "Always have been, always it is, and will be [the main challengers]," he said. "I know the quality they have, the character. Two months ago Liverpool were fighting for an unprecedented situation in English football, fighting for four titles. They won two and lost [the league] by one point."

"They could have achieved something that's never been achieved by an English team. This is the same team, same manager and players," Guardiola added.

Though City won the Premier League championship last season, they lost to Liverpool twice – once in the Community Field in July and the other in the FA Cup semifinals in April.

"Maybe in the last two games we were a little bit soft," Guardiola said. "You have to win duels. When they push you, you have to push, you have to be there. The semifinal in the FA Cup was tough, after an incredible effort in the Champions League, and in the Community Shield we were not ready. They were one base higher, you cannot do that against this team."

City at the moment are dealing with the injuries of several key players including John Stones, Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips. Fortunately for the club, Erling Haaland, who has been unstoppable this season, will return for City on Sunday. He has scored 20 goals and three assists in 13 games.

Jurgen Klopp, manager of Liverpool, praised Haaland hard at the press conference on Friday. "When you play against somebody at the moment who is the best striker in the world you have to make sure he doesn't get that many balls," Klopp said. "That's what we will try but obviously against City the problem is if you close Haaland down with too many players you open up gaps for all the other world-class players."

"His finishing skills are exceptional but he moves really smart. You can only use speed if you use it in a smart way. His whole package makes it special. So many things to make a striker, and at City he has some of the best players around him setting up goals. It's a perfect fit," Klopp added.

Liverpool smashed Glasgow Rangers 7-1 in the UEFA Champions League game at Ibrox Stadium on Wednesday. Mohamed Salah scored the fastest hat-trick for Liverpool in the history of the tournament after replacing Darwin Nunez in the center position.

"He (Salah) can play the position no doubt about that, but he can play wide position as well," Klopp said when asked if Salah should appear more as a center. "When he scored goals he was central, that makes sense. Whichever system we play, for finishing you need to be in and around the box."

Klopp also said he looks forward to Sunday's game against City. "I enjoy preparing for the game but it is the biggest challenge you can face in football. ... Man City, they are at the moment the best team in the world but we will give it a try, knowing we can get help from a full Anfield and we will try to use that," he said.