Etihad Stadium has not been a happy hunting ground in the Premier League for Liverpool in recent years, with the Reds' last top-flight victory away to Manchester City coming a decade ago.
The memorable Champions League win in 2018 was one of the Reds' greatest European nights under Jurgen Klopp, but trips to the blue side of Manchester in the league have not been quite so enjoyable since Martin Skrtel capped off the scoring in a thumping 4-1 victory just a month into Klopp's tenure on Merseyside.
On Sunday, owing to City's major dip in form over the last few months, the Reds are the favorites to win, and that has seldom been the case during Pep Guardiola's time in Manchester.
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City could be without Erling Haaland once more due to a knee problem, while Ballon d'Or winner Rodri remains sidelined, and some other players who were previously among the best players in the world are simply no longer operating at their peak level.
The rebuild started in January as City splurged over $200 million on a series of young players, but it will take time for them to bed in and Liverpool will show no mercy if the home team's teething problems are apparent on Sunday.
As for Liverpool's squad, it is one that appears to contain the perfect blend of youth and experience: 30-somethings Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah are at the peak of their powers, while the Reds' young players like Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai bring energy and verve to the midfield.
Not many Reds fans have much complimentary to say about Darwin Nunez at the moment, but he is also an important part of the squad, despite his open-goal miss against Aston Villa effectively canceling out his match-winning brace against Brentford from last month.
Arne Slot was critical of Nunez's application after the draw at Villa Park, bemoaning the 25-year-old's work rate and saying that the miss had affected him too much. For Slot, that was far less forgivable than the spurned chance itself, and the Dutchman hinted that Nunez would be getting a ticking off at the AXA Training Center on Thursday.
Despite his latest disappointing outing, there is a decent chance that Nunez could line up against City owing to issues with the Reds' other forwards. Slot could not confirm whether Cody Gakpo would be fit enough to figure after he missed the recent games against Wolves and Villa, while Diogo Jota's minutes are being managed carefully after an injury-ridden campaign — and he has started the last two games.
Were Gakpo and Jota both to miss out on a place in the starting line-up, Nunez would be the obvious choice through the middle, with Luis Diaz and Salah on either flank. Nunez has gone from zero to hero to zero again this season, and the trip to City could give him the chance to regain hero status once more.
