11 min: Arne Slot has spotted something. He’s doing that hand-jive thing first made popular by Glenn Hoddle and John Gorman. “Go in to go left, Nigel,” that kind of thing.

10 min: Andy Robertson seems to shove Rico Lewis. Pep himself can be heard complaining about that one. Neither team yet to dictate play. Few nerves, and perhaps some adjusting to do, too.

8 min: Jeremy Boyce gets in touch: “The C beside De Breune’s name could be a mis-print and should be a G, to indicate he’s a ginger. Or is it pre-empting his departure from the game Crocked ? Or possibly “Citizen-til-I-die”, in order to distinguish himself from the rest of the Etihad rabble who are clearly only there for the dosh ? Now that Kyle’s gone…”

Foden drops out and finds space to shoot. Alisson claims but there will be no man-to-man manly battle as with Haaland for Virgil van Dijk.

7 min: Gravenberch is being swarmed over, another popular recent tactic. De Bruyne’s involved in the midfield battle, perhaps trying to show the engine is still running.

5 min: First run for Doku, with Marmoush inside him. The plan appears to be isolating Trent Alexander-Arnold. Does Trent get a complex? Seems every team targets him. Meanwhile, Liverpool do just fine.

4 min: Diaz raids from the left wing, plenty of flexibility in both attacks. Neither has opted for an out-and-out striker.

3 min: Having flapped at the first corner, Alisson claims the second in the style we have become accustomed to.

2 min: An early slip from Gvardiol leads to Salah’s first shot. It’s blocked, and then City go down the other end and force a couple of corners.

Away we go in Manchester

The teams are just about ready. Blue Moon is ringing out at the Eti, and Pep has a sly smile on his face.

Arne Slot’s on Arsenal’s slip, per Sky: “It’s clear it’s impossible not to notice it. You receive text messages and things like this. I wasn’t watching the game myself but of course you get to hear it. My main focus was City. They have had a difficult spell because of injuries, but the squad is bigger and the new players have had an impact already.”

The last time Liverpool won at the Etihad. I was there, and it took a while to come to fruition but the template was set for Klopp’s Liverpool.

The teams’ last meeting.

Pep Guardiola spoke to Sky on that Haaland absence: ““Yesterday after training he didn’t feel good. During these nine years we played many seasons without really important players and we survived. This season, we have had a lot of injuries and we could not survive, but in specific games we have to do it.”

Pep does a lot of harking back these days. Protecting his legacy?

Elsewhere…

Clive Darwell spots a City revival: “I notice that if City win today and Liverpool lose to Newcastle on Wed City would basically be 8 points behind if they won their game in hand. Now they’ve got a runner in midfield and they can recharge batteries without Champions League, and Arsenal are…..Arsenal I’m surprised no one’s talking about them winning – Liverpool could easily get spooked. There’s something very weird about this season.”

Paul Shields gets in touch: “John, looking forward to your minute by minute report in the Guardian for the Liverpool game. That 4-3 result NUFC vs Forrest reminded me of the Roman offerings to their gods. I’ve no idea what I’m on about but there’s something in the air “For those who are about to die we salute you”, or something like that. Ironically, I’ve just got back from a wedding anniversary in Rome. I just hope the omens are good…”

Joe Pearson: “It would be funny if Carragher had the stones to accuse Haaland of Van Dijk-itis. He won’t though, will he?”

Jose asks: ‘What does the (C) mean next to De Bruyne?”

Captain.

Chris in Corfu gets in touch: “It’s just like in years gone bye. City will be two down in 15 minutes and all of sudden l will be back at Maine Road watching peak Cityitis.”

Graeme Neill gets in touch: “Obviously The Narrative suggests that between Arne’s comments the other night and the fact he’s on the bench, Nunez will come on when the game is delicately poised and score the first of the 15 goals he’ll boot in between now and the end of the season. But let’s face it, he’s going to shank the ball into Old Trafford when the goal is gaping in the 94th minute, isn’t he?”

If not Salah, then who is going to score for Liverpool?

Jonathan Wilson has run his rule over the two rivals, both with big – if different – questions to answer.

All eyes on Marmoush and Salah in Egypt.

Only two attackers for Liverpool in Salah and Diaz? NO DARWIN? No Jota, who was responsible for a couple of misses at Villa Park too. Both are on the bench.

Ilkay Gundogan and the injured John Stones are out, Gundo benched, Stones on the long-term list. Surprise recall for Kevin De Bruyne as Nathan Ake and Jeremy Doku come in.

Odd, considering these comments:

“But maybe for the demands, the way we now need to play because of the absences or strengths that we have and physicality and many things, we need a game of more control and not up and down. Don’t tell me why. It’s not personal, I decide the decisions, that’s all, no more than that…”

Jamie Carragher looked a bit twitchy when he and Micah Richards were bantering earlier. His socials suggest his comments were taken out of context. Pep was fuming. All fuel to the fire.

Haaland’s knee problem looked nasty last week – but City have been tight-lipped.

The teams – No Haaland

Preamble