"Four center-backs Pep, four?!", "Spiderman is starting" - Manchester City fans left confused by starting XI against Liverpool

Manchester City fans are bemused by Pep Guardiola's starting lineup for their crucial clash with Liverpool on Saturday (April 1).

The Cityzens host the Reds at the Etihad looking to move to within five points of league leaders Arsenal. They face Jurgen Klopp's side who are in the midst of a top-four race and in dire need of a good result.

Guardiola has opted for an intriguing lineup that has confused Manchester City fans. The Spanish coach has started Ederson in goal with a back four of John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake.

Meanwhile, Rodri is in midfield alongside Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne. Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish join Julian Alvarez in attack. The latter starts instead of Erling Haaland, who has been ruled out with a groin injury.

Guardiola's selection of a back four has dumbfounded fans. One fan tweeted that the decision was insane:

Meanwhile, another fan was excited to see Alvarez start. The Argentine attacker, nicknamed Spider-Man, has scored 12 goals and contributed four assists in 34 games across competitions:

Here's how Twitter reacted to Guardiola's starting lineup for the encounter with Liverpool:

Manchester City manager Guardiola explains Haaland's absence

Manchester City will be without Erling Haaland, who has been in spectacular form this season. The Norweigan striker has scored 42 goals in just 37 games across competitions.

However, Haaland was forced to withdraw from international duty with Norway this past week. The prolific frontman is nursing a groin injury and was assessed before the battle with Liverpool. Unfortunately for Manchester City, he will play no part in the crunch clash.

Guardiola touched on this before the game, explaining that he didn't want to risk Haaland. He told BT Sport:

Guardiola continued by insisting that Alvarez can fill in for the in-form forward:

Although Guardiola is in a confident mood, Haaland's absence is a massive blow given his incredible debut season at the Etihad. The forward has been instrumental in City's pursuit of three trophies and will want him back as soon as possible.

The Cityzens have just 12 league games remaining to turn the tide in the title race.

About the author

Matthew is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who has been covering news, rumors and match reports for close to 3 years. Learning creative writing from University of Essex, he combined his skills and passion for football take up writing for the sport professionally.

Matthew always strives to go beyond a story and offer unique and lesser-known insights, while maintaining an unbiased tone in his articles. His reporting exploits at the company have helped him gain a humungous readership of 25 million, with one of his articles raking in a whopping 724,000 reads.

A Manchester United fan since childhood, Matthew admired Sir Alex Ferguson for his loyalty and brave coaching style. His favorite footballer is Thierry Henry, believing the Frenchman to be uniquely talented and charismatic. An ardent Three Lions fan, England's penalty shootout win over Colombia in 2018 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment of all time, and he believes that Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe will have a Ballon d’Or duopoly after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He also follows his local EFL League Two clubs AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United, and spends his free time watching and writing about professional wrestling. He also likes to work out, watch movies and go for night outs.

Know More