The runaway Premier League leaders dominated at the Etihad Stadium in September with a 5-0 victory, although Jurgen Klopp will point to Sadio Mane’s dismissal at 1-0 as a mitigating circumstance for that embarrassment.
The Reds did, however, exact revenge in January by inflicting a first league defeat of the season for City in a 4-3 win at Anfield.
And it is those two exhilarating fixtures which whet the appetite for Wednesday’s Champions League last-eight clash.
With that in mind, we look at how each team’s key stars compare.
TOP MARKSMEN
Mohamed Salah v Raheem Sterling
One player will have his name joyously reverberated around Anfield, the other will likely be booed every time he touches the ball.
Both, though, will be pivotal to their team’s causes. Salah’s season has been well eulogised with the metronome rate at which he has scored goals this term, catapulting Liverpool into the central narrative both domestically and in Europe.
Sterling, too, has been tremendous with Pep Guardiola cajoling the best campaign of his career. The injury absence of Sergio Aguero only increases the England international’s significance for this fixture.
In a front three of Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sane, the three offer cohesion and fluidity. It may be the case Sterling operates through the middle as he did against Manchester United with his quick-mind and quick-feet sure to dislodge Liverpool’s midfield anchor Jordan Henderson.
The 23-year-old was suspended for the first clash with Liverpool and anonymous in the second, the third may provide the platform to showcase his true talent.
But no matter the stage, Salah has performed this season. The Egyptian tormented Nicolas Otamendi in September and capitalised on Ederson’s shocking clearance out the back to finish beautifully from long-range.
Salah is capable of destroying any defence in the world and he, alongside Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane, will form a trio to fear.
CHIEF CREATORS
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain v Kevin de Bruyne
Salah is being hotly tipped to lift the Premier League’s Player of the Year gong but the man on the other side of the debate has equal claim to the title.
Indeed, few would argue if the trophy was split this season such has been quality of the two – after all sharing glory with others is what De Bruyne does best. The Belgian provides City’s creative cognition and his ability to acquire knowledge of patterns of play and bend the game to his will is practically unrivalled.
He has scored crucial goals in crucial games (Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal) and with the POTY discussion an undercurrent topic for Wednesday’s encounter, the 26-year-old will be wanting to make a mark.
It’s of course unfair to put Oxlade-Chamberlain in anywhere near the same bracket as De Bruyne but in terms of ingenuity, the England man is crucial for Liverpool.
Where De Bruyne is hallmarked by guile and panache, Oxlade-Chamberlain is pace and power. The 24-year-old bangs the drum in Jurgen Klopp’s “heavy metal football” and his dynamism to burst through the lines from midfield forms a fulcrum for their attack.
His super strike against City in September is symptomatic of what he brings to this Liverpool side and the visitors have been served notice of his prowess.
BACK PROTECTION
Virgil van Dijk v Vincent Kompany
Virgil van Dijk was at the centre of a tug-of-war between City and Liverpool in the summer and in January with Guardiola targeting the Dutch defender as a potential long-term replacement for Vincent Kompany.
It’s easy to overlook the significance of defenders in this clash given the array of premier attacking talents on display but the two will actually be central figures.
Neither centre-back played for their sides in the two Premier League clashes this season, Van Dijk was only acquired from Southampton in the winter window and missed out the 4-3 win through injury while Kompany has only managed 13 league games all season through fitness issues of his own.
There are similarities between the two, if not in their attributes then certainly in the effect they have on the players around them. Van Dijk’s calm presence has soothed the ailments of a previously error-prone Dejan Lovren and the two have formed quite the formidable partnership.
Kompany likewise is captain cool, although he governs through tenacity and a warrior-like spirit. It will be fascinating to see how two of the Premier League’s best centre-halves deal with some of the fastest and most lethal forwards Europe has to offer.
