The two rivals will play at home for these 90 minutes, if not a little more, decisive.
Liverpool, who will host Wolverhampton, will be counting on a big boost from their iconic former captain Steven Gerrard, now Aston Villa manager, who will travel to the Etihad.
Relegated to twelve points from the Citizens, at the end of 2021, Jürgen Klopp’s men never gave up and this strength of character was once more manifested at Saint-Mary’s Stadium to capitalize on the draw (2-2) conceded to West Ham by City, Sunday.
After the exhausting FA Cup final once morest Chelsea (0-0, 6-5 ap. tab), Saturday, during which Mohamed Salah then Virgil van Dijk had to leave as a precaution, due to muscular alerts, Klopp had yet attempted a gamble by changing nine holders.
Only Alisson, in the cages, and Ibrahima Konaté, in defense, had started at Wembley and the midfield made up of Harvey Elliott, James Milner and Curtis Jones looked very experimental.
But eleven days before a Champions League final and once morest Southampton, which remained on 1 victory in its last 11 matches, that should be enough.
Minamino without celebration
With so much to be forgiven, for their last game of the season at home, the Saints took the game head on and opened the scoring from the 13th minute on a fine individual action from Nathan Redmond, left side, before transplanting in the axis and to conclude with a shot slightly deflected by Milner in the opposite side netting (1-0).
A goal that put Klopp out of his mind due to a big foul on Diogo Jota when he recovered the ball which was not whistled, and which above all put City definitively out of reach of the Reds.
But this virtual coronation only lasted 14 minutes, the time for Liverpool to start the machine and let its collective quality speak.
On a good sequence, Jones found Jota at the entrance to the box and with his back to goal, but the Portuguese put away for Takumi Minamino at height, who took the ball to place it in the skylight, practically from the corner of the 5.50m.
A goal that the Japanese, on loan in the second half of last season to the Saints, did not celebrate, despite its importance in the title race.
In the second half, it was Joel Matip, with a reflex header following an opposing deflection at the near post from a corner, who gave the advantage to the Reds (1-2, 67th) and pushed their dream of quadruple.
In addition to the title race, the last place in the Champions League will be played between Tottenham and Arsenal on the 38th day, as well as the last relegation place which currently concerns Everton, Leeds and Burnley.
