The Man City striker has been doing his best since he was suspended after starting the year with a drought of goals
There is something about Liverpool that seems to send Manchester City into a parallel universe.
Pep Guardiola has never won in Anfield. David Silva has also not won in a decade in which he won four Premier League titles with City. Sergio Aguero doesn’t have it either; In fact, the Argentinian striker has never scored on the red in 12 attempts.
City has won only once in Anfield in the past 39 years, although their record against their rivals at Etihad Stadium is significantly better before another rematch this Thursday.
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Raheem Sterling is another curse when you face the club he left under controversial circumstances five years ago. The England international didn’t score anywhere against his previous club until August 11th, when City won the Community Shield.
This win continued a series of successes, winning eight out of nine trophies available until Liverpool was confirmed as the new Premier League champion last week.
The Wembley win should also have been a warning to Jürgen Klopp’s team that City was ready and waiting for the titans to fight again after beating the 2019 title by one point and winning their last 14 games on the last day of the season .
But it didn’t work out that way and Liverpool’s first game as a champions in 30 years will be home to its rivals – 23 points ahead of seven games remaining.
Guardiola players will give an honor guard to their visitors before the game, and while this is correct and respectful, it will reinforce the painful realization that their domestic dominance has waned.
The Community Shield win at Wembley wasn’t a warning shot, but City will want to send a more meaningful message for next season this time, with Sterling leading the charge.
The 25-year-old did not want a forced three-month break from football, but it may have given him the opportunity to refresh himself and recharge after an uninterrupted run with City and England.
While he broke the 20-goal mark for the third time in a row, his shape wasn’t his best at the beginning of the new year.
Sterling did not score a goal between early 2020 and football shutdown in England after the Covid-19 outbreak in March. A goalless series spanning 12 games. It was his longest run without a goal since winter 2016/17.
But since the return of football, Sterling has looked younger. He was the first player in the new era of games to be played behind closed doors, with a clinical result in a 3-0 win over Arsenal.
His goal was even more impressive in the 2-0 victory in the FA Cup against Newcastle on Sunday. In a close game against an ultra-defensive Newcastle, he made room with a clever switch inside before making a controlled 20-yard curling attempt to end the tie and send City back to Wembley for a semi-final against Arsenal.
Liverpool is of course a different matter, although Sterling believed before her November meeting that he had overcome the difficulty of facing his old side and the issues surrounding his sharp change in 2015.
“It was strange at first to see yourself in a different shirt and against a club that did so much for you. It’s emotional too,” he said before City’s visit to Anfield, which ended in a 0-3 defeat.
“But now I’ve matured beyond that and feel like I’ve had some good games against them. I have now passed this phase. It’s gone.
“It was a little thing, but I’m now fully focused and ready.”
This return was not a very good one, but now that it has been completely released and the pressure has eased, it could be the right time for Sterling to face its old employers and bury the Hoodoo once and for all.
Much has been said about Klopp’s potential to build a new Anfield dynasty based on last year’s Champions League success and the season’s dominance of the Premier League season.
However, defending the Premier League title is not easy – City is the only team that has done this in the past 12 years. Sterling and his teammates will be interested in sending a reminder of this fact when they compete against each other this week.
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