Manuel Pellegrini believes Liverpool’s late return in the early hours of Friday morning from Turkey after being knocked out of the Europa League by Besiktas will give Manchester City an “advantage” at Anfield in Sunday’s noon kick-off.
Liverpool’s defeat on penalties meant Brendan Rodgers’ side had to endure the energy-sapping demand of extra-time before the mentally draining experience of being eliminated on spot-kicks.
To compound all this Liverpool’s flight back from Istanbul was delayed by 90 minutes so they landed back at John Lennon Airport at 4.30am on Friday. In comparison City will have had four full days to recover after losing to Barcelona evening in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Pellegrini said: “I think that of course it is an advantage, not a decisive one because I always think the decisive thing is the performance on the day of the game. But I have played in the Europa League and when you arrive on Friday it is not the best way to prepare for a game on Sunday – but that is the rules. They are playing Europa League. Maybe another time we prepare worse for the game.”
Pellegrini believes having to play in the Europa League on a Thursday and the Premier League on Sunday is difficult. “You cannot prepare the game because you finish on Thursday night and you must play on Sunday, the players need at least 48 hours to recover,” he said. “It is an advantage for the other team but it is not a decisive one. If we think we are going to win that game because Liverpool arrive late, that is not the reason. We must play very good because they also have a strong squad. I don’t think they will play the same starting 11 as yesterday night.”
City can close the gap in the Premier League title race to two points as Chelsea play Tottenham Hotspur in the Capital One Cup final on Sunday. The City manager says victory is vital to keep the pressure on the leaders. “Of course it is important, more than psychologically it is important mathematically,” said Pellegrini. “We are going to have three points more, we are going to go two points behind Chelsea because they do not play the next game. Last season, I remember we were nine points behind Chelsea with three games in hand, but we were nine points behind, and then you have the pressure to win those three games.
“It is very important to beat Liverpool because they are a strong team and [have] a difficult stadium. And to continue winning in the Premier League in the way we did in the last two games – we won 4-1 and 5-0 against Stoke and Newcastle – and continue fighting until the end to retain the title because we have to play 36 points more, that is a lot of points and as soon as we close the gap it is better for us.”