🔗 Share this article After Neutralizing Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior, Revived Liverpool Focus On Haaland Liverpool's manager demanded a repeat of Liverpool’s display against Real Madrid as the Premier League champions travel to Manchester City on Sunday. In place of Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior in midweek, read Erling Haaland on Sunday. Neutralizing another of the world's best attackers, and keeping a third shutout in a row, could strengthen Slot's post-Madrid message that Liverpool are still in contention for the major trophies. Ideal Cure for Recent Woes Their European win over Xabi Alonso’s La Liga leaders, who had 13 wins from 14 games prior to coming at Anfield, was the perfect remedy for a Liverpool team aiming to recover from the wounds of a difficult spell of Slot’s reign. Additionally, it served as perfect preparation for what awaits at the Etihad Stadium: a rival that prefers to attack, that will not sit in a low block and poses an obvious, rampant threat. “It will be similar a little bit,” stated Virgil van Dijk, who dominated Haaland at Anfield last season. “We are facing a very in-form team like today and a striker, like today, who was on fire. When that happens you have to be spot-on and I think we showed we were solid collectively defensively.” Reasons for Success The manager's reasons for why things went right against Madrid as well as Villa last weekend – aligned with his analysis of why things went wrong during a run of six defeats in seven games. Additional rest, avoiding early goals, and better conditioning of players such as Alexis Mac Allister and Conor Bradley after injury-hit pre-seasons played a part. They backed up his previous arguments and choice to sacrifice the Carabao Cup by using rotated players against Crystal Palace. The comeback of the familiar midfield trio of Dominik Szoboszlai, Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch boosted the defense to Liverpool’s defense. The overdue return at left-back of Andy Robertson, who has started each of Liverpool’s past three wins, restored calmness and authority to a back four. The German playmaker impressed again in the Champions League but not from the No 10 role he usually plays in the Premier League. Dominant Display Szoboszlai was again Liverpool’s engine in the midfield. His national team skipper is excelling this season and has established himself as a key figure in the team. “Dom is consistently reliable,” said Van Dijk. “His role is crucial. The work rate he brings on the pitch is incredible, the quality that he has is outstanding and he is learning with every outing.” Next Challenge Szoboszlai started up front with Curtis Jones and found the net at the Etihad previously as Liverpool surprised City by switching to a 4-2-2-2. That win in February put Liverpool 11 points clear at the top with 11 matches to play. This weekend they will be playing catch-up but, as the manager emphasized after defeating Madrid, there is a long way to go for Liverpool to mount a comeback.