London: Manchester City and Liverpool’s ascension to the two top dogs in the Premier League has seen every meeting in recent seasons met with increasing animosity, ahead of Sunday’s latest battle for supremacy.
No player bears the brunt of that bad blood more than Raheem Sterling on his return to Anfield. Sterling shot to fame as a teenager in the 2013/14 season as a rollercoaster ride took Liverpool agonisingly close to ending their long wait to win a league title. Two years later, he left in acrimonious circumstances with Liverpool going backwards on the field and disputes over his contract off it. Sterling has flourished under Pep Guardiola, becoming a vital part of City’s two title-winning campaigns in the last two seasons, while Liverpool’s wait for a league crown has now stretched to 30 years. He is one of many tales of what might have been for Liverpool over the past three decades, but is also symbolic of how times have changed at Anfield.
Sterling left just three months before Jurgen Klopp arrived to revitalise the Reds after a season in which they finished sixth, 17 points behind City. (AFP)
