Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott admits they cannot afford to focus too much on the multiple threats Manchester City pose or their own game plan will “go out the window”.
The two title rivals go head to head at Anfield on Sunday with Pep Guardiola’s side having hit top form with 18 wins and two draws in their last 20 matches.
Liverpool’s record over the last 19 fixtures has seen them lose just once and draw three times without, at times, coming close to playing at their best.
The attacking options City have at their disposal can be dizzying for opponents but Elliott said they will not be thinking about that.
“Look at the players and the squad depth they have, just Man City as a team are unbelievable,” said the 20-year-old.
“But it is about us not bigging it up too much. We just take it as another game, not worry about it too much, we just do what we do best, not over analyse or think about it too much
“We will play our football, the way we play as if we’re thinking about them too much then our game plan goes out the window.
“We just have to step up and make sure we’re ready from the start.”
The game will be billed as a potential title decider but Elliott has downplayed the hype.
“I don’t think we can big it up more than any other game,” he added.
“It’s a massive game, of course, but we’re a massive club as well and we just need to be thinking about ourselves.”
Considering the firepower of both sides Sunday’s game may be decided by who takes their chances.
Darwin Nunez warmed up for the tie with two goals in the midweek Europa League win over Sparta Prague, following on from his 99th-minute winner against Nottingham Forest, and represents Liverpool’s biggest threat.
“You know he has always had the skill and the quality, I think just sometimes it was a confidence thing. Now he is showing it,” said Elliott of the Uruguay international who has scored five in his last four games.
“He scored a vital, massive goal at the weekend and now he has come up with another great performance and goals in Prague.
“We are over the moon for him. He just needs to keep going, keep working hard and we will support him all of the way.
“We know what he is capable of doing, he just needs to keep doing it.
“But everyone needs to pop up with goals. It can’t just be the attackers, the midfielders need to chip in too.”
Nottingham Forest unsuccessful in appeal against Premier League points deduction
Nottingham Forest have been unsuccessful in their appeal against a four-point deduction for breaching the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules.
In March, Forest were deducted four points after admitting to breaching the league's financial rules by overspending by £34.5million over a three-year assessment period ending last season.
Everton have also lost eight points to two separate deductions, having been found to have breached the rules in the period culminating in 2022-23 and the period ending last campaign.
Forest's penalty dropped them into the thick of the relegation battle, with the club saying they were "extremely dismayed by the tone and content" of the Premier League's submissions to an independent commission and pledging to appeal.
Forest argued their lack of recent Premier League history placed them at a disadvantage to other clubs and said the sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham, which went through last September after the end of the assessment period, was within the "spirit" of sustainability.
The club's appeal against their penalty was heard on April 24, but an appeal board decided to uphold the punishment, which was itself more lenient than that requested by the Premier League.
In a statement released on Monday, the Premier League said: "The PSR sanction applied to the assessment period ending in season 2022-23 and was appealed by the club on two grounds.
"The club argued that the independent commission committed an error in not treating its sale of a high-profile player shortly after the assessment period as a mitigating factor, and that it committed a further error in electing not to suspend some or all of the points deduction it imposed.
"Each of these grounds was rejected by the appeal board, which found the independent commission was entitled to immediately impose the sanction it did. The four-point deduction will therefore remain in place."
It means Forest stay 17th in the table with 29 points, having pulled three clear of 18th-placed Luton Town by beating already-relegated Sheffield United 3-1 on Saturday.
Nuno Espirito Santo's team face Chelsea and Burnley in their final two games of 2023-24, with Luton likely to need at least four points from meetings with West Ham and Fulham to overhaul them.
Burnley, down in 19th, need to win their last two matches – against Tottenham and Forest – to have any chance of avoiding the drop.
'Call it a day' – Casemiro told to quit Man Utd after hapless Palace display
Casemiro has been told to quit Manchester United after producing a dire display in Monday's 4-0 loss at Crystal Palace, with Jamie Carragher saying the Brazilian can no longer cut it at the top level.
United produced arguably their worst performance of the season on Monday, with Michael Olise scoring twice as Palace hammered Erik ten Hag's injury-hit side at Selhurst Park.
With Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof all sidelined, Casemiro played as a makeshift centre-back alongside Jonny Evans and endured a nightmare outing.
The Brazilian was beaten all too easily by Olise for Palace's opener, then was outmuscled by Daniel Munoz for Olise's second goal just after the hour mark.
Carragher believes the time has come for the five-time Champions League winner to step away from the top level, saying a move to MLS or the Saudi Pro League should be on the cards.
"I think Casemiro should know himself, as an experienced player, that he should only have three games left at a top level," Carragher said in his role as Sky Sports pundit.
"Then he should say, 'I'm going to head to MLS or Saudi'. His agent or the team around him need to tell him. We're watching one of the greats of the modern time.
"But I always remember something when I retired, a saying I'll always remember, 'leave the football before the football leaves you'.
"The football's left him at this top level. He needs to call it a day at this level of football and move."
Casemiro has struggled throughout his second season at Old Trafford. Last campaign, the former Real Madrid star won possession 8.68 times per 90 minutes, on average, in the Premier League, also managing 1.44 interceptions per game.
Both of those figures are down this term, with Casemiro only winning possession back 6.14 times and making 0.84 interceptions per 90 minutes.
Since the turn of the year, meanwhile, United have faced a Premier League-high 317 shots, while only West Ham (36.35), Luton Town (35.78), Burnley (31.88) and Sheffield United (31.6) have allowed opponents to generate more expected goals (xG) than their 31.47.
Ten Hag, however, refused to single out Casemiro for criticism after Monday's match, saying: "You can't put this down to one player, it's a team performance."
Casemiro has been dribbled past on 52 occasions in the Premier League this season, with only eight players being beaten by opponents more often in the competition.
Eriksen says Man Utd players must take blame for Selhurst Park rout
Christian Eriksen believes Manchester United's players must take the blame after their miserable season hit a new low with Monday's 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.
Erik ten Hag's injury-hit Red Devils were torn apart by Palace as Michael Olise scored a wonderful brace and was joined on the scoresheet by Jean-Philippe Mateta and Tyrick Mitchell.
United's 13th loss of the Premier League season – their most in a league campaign since 1989-90 (16) – leaves them eighth in the table and facing an uphill battle to qualify for Europe.
They have now conceded 81 goals across all competitions this season, their most in a single campaign since they shipped the same number in 1976-77.
While the manner of the defeat will only raise further questions about Ten Hag's future at Old Trafford, Eriksen says the players are primarily responsible.
"It's a big disappointment. We just had an off-day, and we weren't in it," the midfielder told BBC Sport.
"It is what it is. We can't really change the injury things. We have to do what we can on the pitch to change it. Today it didn't matter who we played, everyone could have done better.
"I don't know what the conclusion is for how it went. We weren't good enough. We tried to do what we could but we were not good enough. We'll take the blame as players."
Since the start of last season, only Nottingham Forest (five) have lost more away Premier League games by a margin of four or more goals than United (three), with the Red Devils also going down 4-0 at Brentford and 7-0 at Liverpool last term.
They now trail sixth-placed Newcastle United by two points and are behind seventh-placed Chelsea on goal difference, with fixtures against Arsenal, Brighton and Hove Albion and Newcastle to come this season.
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