Liverpool vs. Manchester City: Citizens Will Stretch Reds' Stingy Defence

It would be easy to characterize Sunday's pivotal tilt between Liverpool and Manchester City as a clash of defensive titans. After all, both sides are currently tied with Newcastle United as the stingiest the English Premier League has to offer.

Yet, to do so would be to overlook the tremendous attacking talent that will be kicking up the pitch, particularly for City. Robert Mancini has at his disposal the finest collection of attacking talent in England, if not the world, and knows full well how to use it.

The difficulty for him, of course, is to figure out which of his world-class footballers—between Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, David Silva, Samir Nasri, James Milner, Yaya Toure and so on—to play at any given time.

And that's not including Carlos Tevez, who's yet to set foot on the pitch in a live game for City this season amidst an ongoing feud with Mancini and a childish attempt to extract himself from the club.

These are all problems for Mancini, but they're the sort of problems that even Sir Alex Ferguson would be envious of. What manager wouldn't want to be in charge of a squad that's yet to lose or score fewer than two goals in a league match?

To put it that way understates just how prolific the Citizens have been on the attack this season, seeing as how they're averaging 3.5 goals per contest in the EPL thus far.

That being said, they figure to find it a bit more difficult to run up the score at Anfield, where Liverpool have yet to allow more than one goal in any single match. In fact, Kenny Dalglish's side has surrendered more than one goal but once all season, in an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane back in mid-September.

The Reds' success in this regard is due both to the tremendous play of their defenders and the slow pace at which their midfield tends to operate. Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel, Glen Johnson and Jose Enrique have performed phenomenally in front of Pepe Reina, though they've been helped tremendously by the slow-footed Brits that Dalglish has patrolling the middle of the pitch, namely new boy Charlie Adam.

That sort of success will be difficult for Liverpool to carry over against a side with as much pace at as many different positions as Man City. They've already shown themselves capable of shredding even the most stout of back lines, particularly after posting three goals against the Magpies in their most recent EPL match.

Lest you think Luis Suarez and Craig Bellamy are about to make minced meat of City's defence, consider that there may be as much world-class talent in the rearguard as there is on the attack at Eastlands/Etihad.

From Vincent Kompany and Micah Richards to Pablo Zabaleta, Kolo Toure and new boy Gael Clichy, the Citizens' back line has made life for goalkeeper Joe Hart a breeze this season.

And while a loss at Napoli in UEFA Champions League group play might seem to put the "Noisy Neighbors" at a disadvantage, remember that City slaughtered Blackburn 4-0 after suffering defeat against Bayern Munich in September.

In other words, don't be surprised if Man City overwhelm Liverpool just as they have done to the EPL as a whole amidst the ongoing expansion of the Evil Oil Empire.