Liverpool Boss Brendan Rodgers Claims Manchester City Have Edge Ahead Of Sunday Clash

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The Anfield side has to play in the Europa League on Thursday evening, while the Citizens had to face Barcelona the two days before…

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has claimed that Manchester City will have the edge when the pair play because of the Reds’ Europa League exertions, reports the Daily Express.

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City played Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday evening while the Merseyside club has to play Besiktas in the lesser competition two days later.

The Northern Irishman has already had to pull in form Philippe Coutinho from the Europa squad in order to keep him fresh for the match at Anfield on Sunday.

The 42-year-old said of the situation: “It’s not ideal, especially with the early kick-off. I’ve had to bring out young Coutinho. He hasn’t travelled. He’s an outstanding young player for us, a key player for us and he has played a lot of games consecutively for us now.

He added: “This was a game that I’d earmarked to give him some recovery in knowing he can stay at home, not travel and prepare and get ready for the weekend. That extra period of 48 hours that they (City) will have could be crucial, certainly physically. It’ll be 3am when we get back, the players will probably get home about 4:30am. Then we’ll aim to train and recover later that day.”

The encounter with the Turkish side will be no easy match either, as the Reds only just secured a 1-0 victory at Anfield last week.

They will be hoping that former tormentor Demba Ba doesn’t haunt them after scoring for Chelsea to end their title challenge last season.

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