A manager who has redefined how football should be played, and for whom Arne Slot and others will undoubtedly admit they owe a lot to.
Odds against City doing the double over Liverpool
It's odd to think back to just before the Catalan arrived on English shores, and all of the talk was that he wouldn't dominate in the Premier League in the same way he had in Germany and Spain.
Where are those naysayers now?!
That last head-to-head back in November belonged to City, as they eased to a 3-0 victory in a game where Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku were on target, and in which Liverpool managed just one shot on target.
Guardiola will almost certainly be looking for a similar scoreline at Anfield on Sunday, but Liverpool have lost just one of their last 22 Premier League home games against Man City (W14 D7).
Both clubs in need of three points
The visitors were pegged back against Tottenham last weekend, despite taking a 2-0 lead, and the draw allowed Arsenal to keep a six-point gap at the top, which will be increased to nine if the Gunners triumph against Sunderland on Saturday.
The Reds will still want to aim for a finish in the Champions League places, of course, so every point is vital for a team that walked to the Premier League title last season, but currently find themselves in sixth and two points behind Manchester United in that fourth and final UCL spot.
Their 4-1 win against Newcastle broke a five-match winless streak, with two of their goals coming from Hugo Ekitike. Top scorer with 10 goals, he's certainly taken the baton that was expected to be passed to Alexander Isak.
With Mo Salah largely out of form this season, too, Ekitike has been a real standard-bearer in attack for the club.
He's either scored or assisted every 112 minutes in the Premier League this season (10 goals, two assists in 1,342 minutes), which is the best rate by a Liverpool player in their first season at the club since Salah himself in 2017/18 (32 goals, 10 assists – one every 70 minutes).
Haaland's Anfield jinx
Ekitike's numbers, whilst decent enough, still pale in comparison when placed against Haaland, who has 20 goals already and is currently the Premier League's top scorer in 2025/26.
City will need the Norwegian on song again, given that they haven't won away in three games, the last victory coming at The City Ground against Nottingham Forest. However, Anfield is the only PL ground where Haaland has yet to find the back of the net.
Four losses on the road this season isn't the best either, though Guardiola's side have still won five and drawn three away from the Etihad Stadium.
Both teams have lost just once in their last six, but have also won only once and drawn the other four, so current form suggests this contest could be closer than people think.
The last six H2H games have seen an even split of results too, with two wins for each side and two draws, and an expectation of a fixture that will showcase the best passing that the Premier League has to offer isn't without foundation.
City are first in the PL for the amount of passes made (13,857) and also lead the way in pass accuracy (88%). Right on their shoulders in both cases are Liverpool, with 13,300 passes (2nd) and 86% accuracy (also 2nd).
Interestingly, the Reds have actually had more total shots than City this season (372 - 338), but the visitors on Sunday are much more economical, converting 20% of the time, the most in the division.
Wirtz coming into his own
Liverpool's 16% conversion rate doesn't sound awful by comparison, but it places them 11th in that particular metric.
However, while they're struggling to convert chances, they're at least moving in the right direction in terms of creating them, thanks in large part to one man.
With Florian Wirtz now starting to come into his own for the hosts, the burden of responsibility in terms of chance creation won't only continue to fall on Dominik Szoboszlai, who has already created 43 this season for his teammates.
Since he set up Isak against Tottenham Hotspur, Wirtz has been involved in more goals than any other Premier League player in all competitions (nine – six goals, three assists).
Can Foden find form for club and country?
For City, Phil Foden hasn't had his best campaign for the visitors, having not scored since mid-December. He only has seven league goals in total this season - six of which came in four consecutive games - and has assisted just twice.
However, he's still created 40 chances, and if he can start firing in the goals again, he could blossom at just the right time for England at the World Cup.
In terms of injuries, Isak remains out for some time, as does Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong, although Joe Gomez could return for Liverpool.
Bernardo Silva needs a late fitness test to determine whether he'll play any part in the fixture, which looks unlikely at the moment.
Ruben Dias could make the City squad if not the starting XI, but there's no chance whatsoever of seeing Savio, Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku, Josko Gvardiol or John Stones on the pitch.
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