First Brick in the Fortress?

After a disappointing loss to West Brom to start the season at the hands of former first team coach Steve Clarke, the Reds will now look to take on the defending Premier League champions.

Rodgers announced his attentions of making Anfield an impenetrable fortress when he arrived. Having already acquired Borini, Allen, Assaidi and finalizing a loan deal for Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin, Rodgers seems to have declared that he intends business. We'll look to see how Liverpool fare on Sunday 16:00 GMT.

Both managers seem to be taking a cautious and respectful approach towards their opposition with Rodgers labeling City as the ''benchmark'' team and Mancini insisting that Liverpool can challenge for the title this season. With regard to transfers, City have been surprisingly quite. Though linked with Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi, and Daniel Agger they have only acquired former Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell and offloaded Adam Johnson to Sunderland for a rumored fee of £10m.

Liverpool fans will be licking their lips following the signing of Nuri Sahin on a season-long loan, but will be unsure of whether he will have a part to play on Sunday. One player who will certainly be worrying City fans is Luis Suarez. He seems to have started off the season from where he left off last season, tantalizing West Brom's defence from the start to the very end of the game with only the finish lacking. Suarez and Gerrard having been rested for the mid-week clash against Hearts will have had ample time to prepare for the clash against last year's champions and are expected to be at the heart of Liverpool's attack.

Meanwhile Aguero, who won the Premier League for City against QPR will miss the clash along with Gareth Barry who are both out through injury. Micah Richards, though back from injury may not be up to scratch just yet.

Given Liverpool's record against big teams and City's recent success, a slightly pessimistic approach from Reds fans is definitely warranted. I for one, expect Liverpool to start with a similar line-up to that last weekend against West Brom:

--------------------------------------Reina

Kelly----------------Carragher-----------------Skrtel--------------Johnson

------------------------------------Lucas

-------------------------Allen-----------------Gerrard

Downing------------------------------------------------------------Suarez

------------------------------------Borini

Although the line-up may remain unchanged, expect a more counter-offensive approach to the game. Enrique and Cole are expected to miss the game through injury with Assaidi and Sterling expected to play some part in the game.

Prediction: 1-1.