Kevin De Bruyne expecting Liverpool to be back to their best against Man City

Kevin De Bruyne expects Liverpool to be back to their best for their heavyweight clash against Manchester City at the weekend.

Last season's top two have had contrasting starts to the new 2022/23 campaign with City looking as good as ever and Liverpool struggling more than they have for a long time.

Having played nine and eight matches respectively, Pep Guardiola's side are second with 23 points to their name while Jurgen Klopp's men are 10th with just 10 points on the board.

Given that, City head into the match as heavy favourites, despite the fact that Liverpool beat them 3-1 in the Community Shield at the start of the season.

Nevertheless, De Bruyne is anticipating a difficult game at Anfield, and expects last year's Champions League finalists to be back to their best.

“I expect them to be the best Liverpool possible,” the Belgian said ahead of the match. “Obviously they’ve lost some points but they are still Liverpool and I expect them to be good, that’s the only way I see it.”

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The two sides have played out a number of thrilling clashes in recent years, with there often being plenty of goals and little to choose between them.

De Bruyne feels the key to a good result for his team is to control the match to limit Liverpool's fast attacking play.

“I like big games, I like good atmospheres. It’s a game like any other but obviously, it’s always hard playing away at a top-six team," he added.

“I think in the last few years we’ve done well there, even last year if we didn’t win. They are more of an up-and-down team and we are a team who has more control of the game, so if you can control that style of play then maybe you have more of a chance.

“I think it’s probably going to be a good game again.”