The build-up has a backdrop unlike any other

Sunday's visit of Manchester City to Anfield was already shaping up to be one of those afternoons that stops the country. City arrive with a perfect record through five Premier League matches, sitting at the summit and looking every bit the champions they usually are. But the context surrounding this particular fixture is extraordinary, even by the standards of what has become English football's defining modern rivalry.

City's guilty verdict on 114 Premier League rule breaches hangs over proceedings like nothing we have seen before. Potential sanctions range from points deductions to expulsion from the competition entirely, and the prospect of title stripping remains very much on the table. If the most severe outcomes eventually materialise, Liverpool's tally of 20 league championships could rise retrospectively. For now, though, none of that changes what Andoni Iraola's side need to do on Sunday: go out and beat the team at the top.

Iraola goes to bat for Barcola

The Liverpool manager's preparation has been complicated by the absence of Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo, both sidelined through injury ahead of the match. That puts pressure on Bradley Barcola to deliver, and it comes at a moment when the 24-year-old forward has been on the receiving end of some fairly brutal criticism following France's 4-1 Nations League victory over Belgium, a match in which he drew scathing assessments despite his side winning comfortably.

Iraola is having none of it. "I don't think he's in a bad moment," he said, before addressing the broader issue of how attacking players are judged. "The problem with wingers or strikers is if they don't score a goal, 'They haven't played well.' We have to see the games, we have to watch. I said it the first game against Atletico Madrid, he missed two or three quite clear chances. I don't care, honestly. I care but I want him to see [it's] there. With the national team, I have seen he has had a couple of good situations to score. He hasn't scored, but I want him to be there." It is notably the second time in a matter of weeks that Iraola has offered this kind of public backing to one of his forwards, having done the same for Florian Wirtz amid the German's struggles to justify his price tag.

Liverpool among the clubs circling Murillo

Away from Sunday's fixture, there is transfer business stirring in the background. Liverpool are reportedly among a group of clubs keen on Nottingham Forest centre-back Murillo, with Manchester United and Chelsea also said to be tracking the Brazilian. The 24-year-old has quietly built a reputation as one of the Premier League's most reliable defenders since joining Forest from Corinthians in 2023, clocking up more than 100 appearances in the process.

Murillo signed a new contract in the summer that runs until 2030, which means Forest are under no pressure to sell and would reportedly demand an exceptional offer before entertaining any January exit. The fee would be substantial. But with Virgil van Dijk entering the later stages of his career, the logic behind Liverpool's interest is clear enough. Reinforcing the centre-back position is not just a short-term consideration; it is a structural question about where the squad is headed, and Murillo has the age profile and the Premier League track record to make him an attractive answer to it.