What happened the last time Liverpool faced Man City without Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola
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Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images Liverpool beat Man City 2-1 in March 2015Having run them so close one year previously, Liverpool were nowhere near Man City when Manuel Pellegrini took his team to Anfield in Spring 2015. City would ultimately lose their crown to Chelsea, but with the Reds struggling under Brendan Rodgers, they were favourites to be beaten on March 1st.Nevertheless, Liverpool turned up, despite a midweek Europa League penalty exit to Besiktas, to deliver a rousing 2-1 win in front of their supporters.As he often was back then, Philippe Coutinho was the star man for Liverpool, and he was inevitably the match winner, curling home a magnificent effort from the edge of the box past Joe Hart to give the Reds the lead with 15 minutes to play.Jordan Henderson had scored an almost identical goal after only 11 minutes, sweeping into the top corner for one of his most memorable goals in a Liverpool shirt.
Though Edin Dzeko equalised with a well-taken finish in front of the Kop 15 minutes later, the Reds deservedly stole it with a piece of Coutinho magic.READ MORE: Liverpool’s chances of taking Manchester City’s 2013/14 Premier League title have been revealedWho was in the XI for both teams?Interestingly, both Liverpool and Man City fielded a player during this match who would go on to play for the other team. The pair would swap teams at the end of the season.Elsewhere, Rodgers’ Liverpool XI is fascinating, and just goes to show how much the Northern Irishman’s back was against the wall at this point.Rodgers had begun to favour a back three, and he went with Emre Can, Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren in front of Simon Mignolet.
The introduction of Wilfried Bony off the bench is a reminder that City didn’t always get it right in the transfer market during this period, while Frank Lampard was also substituted on for one of his final Premier League appearances.The next time Liverpool and City met would bring one of the watershed moments in Klopp’s early time with the Reds; a 4-1 win at the Etihad which felt like a turning point for Liverpool players buying into his style of play. Then Guardiola arrived, and everything changed.The teams will obviously look much different when Liverpool and City meet on Sunday, and, for the first time in a long time, those in the dugouts will as well.