• Premier League

Pellegrini: City have upper hand against weary Liverpool

Liverpool lost a penalty shootout in European competition for the first time against Besiktas © AP

Enlarge

Manuel Pellegrini believes Manchester City have been handed an advantage against Liverpool by the Merseysiders' draining workload in the Europa League.

And the City manager believes his Liverpool counterpart Brendan Rodgers will not be able to prepare properly for Sunday's showdown at Anfield.

Liverpool played 120 minutes against Besiktas in Istanbul on Thursday, only arriving back in England in the early hours of Friday morning, and then kick off at midday local time on Sunday.

And Pellegrini said in a news conference: "You cannot prepare the game because you finish on Thursday night and you must play on Sunday. The players need at least 48 hours to recover. It is an advantage for the other team."

The City manager guarded against complacency, saying his side still need to perform to their potential against Liverpool, even if their hosts are tired.

Pellegrini added: "Of course it is an advantage but not a decisive one because I always think the decisive thing is the performance on the day of the game.

"But I have played in the Europa League and when you arrive on Friday it is not the best way to prepare for a game on Sunday but that is the rules. They are playing Europa League.

"If we think we are going to win that game because Liverpool arrive yesterday night late, that is not the reason. We must play very good because they also have a strong squad. I don't think they will play the same starting 11 as yesterday night."

Liverpool rested Philippe Coutinho for the Besiktas game, while Lazar Markovic was suspended.

City are able to recall Yaya Toure, who missed their 2-1 defeat to Barcelona because of a ban, and Pellegrini said his side have no injuries.

With leaders Chelsea playing the Capital One Cup final on Sunday, City can close the gap at the Premier League summit to two points.

And Pellegrini added: "It is important. More than psychologically, it is important mathematically."

City have a poor record at Anfield but Pellegrini urged his players to build on a rare victory at the Britannia Stadium to rewrite the history books again.

"You must change it," he explained. "This year we won at Stoke. In the last six years we never do that."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd