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Mamadou Sakho has promised more "beautiful football" as Liverpool prepare for their biggest league match in 24 years.

The Reds face Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday in a game that will have a massive say in where this year's Premier League title goes.

And French defender Sakho said: "Of course this could be the biggest match Liverpool have played in 24 years.

"You win three points but it's worth a lot more. It is a match that will place the winner in the best position to win the title.

"I hope we win. In any case we are ready for combat. We play at home and have our fans behind us. We will give everything.

"Ever since I arrived at the club, I said it. I told my team-mates that we are capable of winning the title.

"We have the quality and we just have to believe it. And – voila! – as the season progressed we saw Liverpool grow in strength playing such beautiful football.

"We've not stolen the position where we are today. We deserve to be where we are. We are confident about facing their strikers. City score a lot of goals but so do we.

"It will be two beautiful attacks against two strong defences. It's a top match pitting two top teams against each other fighting for the title.

"I have not spoken a lot about matches before we play them. We will see on D-day who is better prepared to take the points."

Sakho, who joined Liverpool from Paris Saint-Germain for £15million last summer, says manager Brendan Rodgers has given the players the belief they are ready for the biggest game of their lives.

Liverpool have not won the title since 1990 but Sakho added: "Rodgers manages to get the maximum out of every player. It's hugely important and not every coach has that charisma.

"He must keep all the players interested and each time he calls up a player they respond with a performance. Like I did at West Ham.

"It's been four months and I haven't played with injury. I had the chance to express myself, and I was there. I felt like a lion before the match. It had been four months and I was hungry to come back strongly.

"The last time Liverpool won the title I was four months old and now I am 24 - I had just been born. Honestly, we will give everything until the last second of the last match."

Sakho or Agger for the weekend???  Man sounds possessed by a demon!  Vive la revolution!

Would go with Sakho.

Sakho was excellent against West Ham. I said on here last week that I hoped Rodgers would play Sakho instead of Agger to negate the aerial influence of Andy Carroll. In the end Rodgers didnt have a choice with Agger picking up an injury.
City don't attack like West Ham though. They pull you all over the place. Positional sense is key for the two centre backs on Sunday & this is Sakho's weakness.

Agger & Skrtel all day long for this match.

He's dead right!!!  The mall full of jerseys with girls the main culprit.  Short skirts and tight tops that what you want to be seeing.

That's true, its  remarkable the amount of GAA jerseys you will see in the mall at UUJ.

So Tyrone played 5 games in McKenna Cup, 7 in league and the county panel have had 4/5 months of uninterupted time together but could anyone even come close to naming the team that will start against Down? I was trying to have a go but got stuck after Morgan!!!!!!!

Unfortunately that is true. The problem is that we have too many players on the same level, particularly in defence. Take the corner back slots, there isn't much difference between McRory, Tierney, Quinn, McKenna. Harte has given them all a chance to nail the jersey & none of them have. Their simply isn't enough stardust in the squad.

My 15 would be
1 N Morgan
2 R McNamee
3 C Clarke
4 AN other - any of the 4 mentioned above
5 D McBride
6 C Gormley
7 P Harte
8 Colm Cavanagh
9 One of the McMahon bros if fit
10 Martin Penrose
11 Ronan O'Neill
12 Mathew Donnelly
13 Kyle Coney
14 Sean Cavanagh
15 Darren McCurry

Andy Carroll and Downing to both score in a 2-1 win for the Hammers.
Can't see any other outcome to be honest.

Joe Cole to come off the bench and create Downings winner, 89th minute

If EC Unique did Carlsberg Sundays...

Im a bit worried about Andy Carroll on Sunday. I think he is well capable of bullying Daniel Agger, whilst Skrtel has a habit of manhandling big target men when assigned the role.
Rodgers has adjusted his formation & personnel beautifully this last few months. He has got all the big calls correct - Allen, Coutinho & Sterling have come in & out of the team depending on who were playing & where.

Normally you wouldn't really t**ker with a defence that's just kept a clean sheet, but... Id like to see Sakho come in for Agger on Sunday. I think he is the best Centre half we have at winning headers & defending in the air. Horses for course's and all that.

I heard he is back in a rehab unit in Galway today. God help the lad & hopefully he can pick up the pieces & build a happy and fulfilled life for himself somewhere when this all subsides.

On the lucky injury list that you seem to imagine - how does this sound

Suarez - missed first 6 games
Gerrard and Sturridge missed 6 & 9 games respectively around the Xmas period, missing the games v Chelsea and City (great luck that is)
Agger - missed more than 1/2 the season
Enrique - missed 3/4 of the season
Sakho - has only played 11 games out of 32 due to injury

Lucas has missed the last two months as well.

Joe Allen has had his fair share of injuries this season as well. Glen Johnson was out for a month also.

Harte, Cody and a few other managers voiced support for Carthy in his spite with RTE. Murray did a pretty derogatory sketch on Harte after Michaela's murder and finished on the "Pretty, little girl from Omagh". Harte was offended, asked for an apology and didn't get it so refused interviews. As far as I know the Tyrone lads are free to talk to RTE but alot of the older crew stuck by Harte and boycotted RTE, it has since kinda inadvertently become the default position so that you'd be a ballsy f**ker to be the 1 man on the squad to rail against the status quo. Harte isn't enforcing the ban but at the same time he wouldn't just be embracing a resolution either.

I see no problem, it's a disagreement and all involved have made free choices as regards it. If neither seem fit to compromise their positions then there will be no resolution.

Spot on. That's it in a nutshell.

After Joe Brollys OTT attack on Sean Cavanagh last July however, I felt that we needed someone to speak to RTE. Joe had 'free digs' if you like to mouth off all he likes knowing there will be no reply & hence not held to account.
Maybe going forward its time for Tyrone to appoint an individual to offer an after match interview. Ciaran McLaughlin would be a good choice IMHO. Very close to whats happening in the squad & with the management team, but in essence not actually a part of it.

Bit of a dilemma with Gerrard. He is on 9 yellow cards for the season - 1 more & he will receive a 2 game ban. Given that he has picked up a yellow on average once every 3 games, it seems certain he will pick one up in the next 7.

I wouldn't like to be heading into the City or Chelsea games without him.

Mark Mc Reynolds, Edendork
Brendan Burns, Pomeroy
Rory Brennan, Trillick
Ciaran Mc Laughlin, Omagh
Michael Mc Cann, Errigal Ciaran
Johnathan Munroe, Carrickmore
Kieran Mc Geary, Pomeroy
Conall Mc Cann, Killyclogher
Declan Mc Clure, Clonoe
Conor Mc Kenna, Eglish
Michael Cassidy, Ardboe
Frank Burns, Pomeroy
Darren Mc Curry, Edendork
Dan Mc Nulty Clonoe
Mark Bradley, Killyclogher

I like the look of the side Fergal Logan has named tonight. Nice balance of size & pace, particularly in that full forward line - Big Dan McNulty flanked by two sharpshooting speedsters.
Good to see Conor McKenna, still a minor this year involved from the start. He looked sensational in the MacRory cup with St Pats Armagh a couple of weeks ago
Very tall order tonight playing away against a Cavan side going for 4 in a row at this level, and with the benefit of a good win under their belt v Derry last week
But on paper at least Fergal Logan has certainly assembled a strong looking side. I felt earlier in the year our strengths lay in the forwards & wasn't so sure about the quality & quantity of our defensive options, and it seems Logan has converted a few half forwards to the defensive positions. It will be interesting I suppose to see how they fair out defensively but they will be comfortable on the ball.

Mark Mc Reynolds,
Brendan Burns,
Rory Brennan,
Ciaran Mc Laughlin,
Michael Mc Cann,
Johnathan Munroe,
Kieran Mc Geary,
Conall Mc Cann,
Declan Mc Clure,
Conor Mc Kenna,
Michael Cassidy,
Frank Burns,
Darren Mc Curry,
Dan Mc Nulty
Mark Bradley

Great result for Liverpool, thought Liverpool were very pacey up front and Utd (like all season) couldn't get a grip on the game. Title there for the taking.

If Utd were in the same position as Liverpool they'd be talking themselves up for the championship

Because they've (as a group) done it so often before. The first one after a long break is the hardest. I just can't see Liverpool winning every game to the end, and in the position we are in, 1 loss or even a draw may be enough to end the challenge. Now, having said that, if you told me that with 9 games to go, Liverpool were within 4 points of the lead, with a game in hand, and 2 of the 3 other challengers yet to come to Anfield (and the the fourth was battered there 5-1) I'd have assumed you were drunk. It's a great season so far, and as long as they finish strong they'll have a chance, but even a 2nd, 3rd or 4th place finish would be a good result, as long as they don't implode.

At this stage looking at the table and fixture list you would consider 4th a good result?

Fourth was the target last August EC, and at the time seemed a very ambitious one given the money City, Chelsea and particularly Spurs had splashed, plus with the old reliables like Arsenal & Man Utd into the mix as well - we finished 7th last season

Perspective.

Liverpool can win every match from now until the end of the season. We're cutting teams apart with ease. The title is there for the taking.

And there you have it!

EC has a point, not every game will be as easy & straight forward as last Sundays. Home & away wins this year against United. If we could play your lot every weekend we'd be champions surely!

Surely AZ we are entitled to question decisions etc sure what is the point of signing up to a discussion board if you cant discuss & question a managers decisions?
It was probably my post that you were referring to, and to make it clear I have the utmost respect for the man both as a person & a football manager. We are indeed lucky to have him. There is no one better in our county equipped to do the job. But we all make mistakes & no one is infallible. I stand by the comment that it was madness to leave a rookie on O'Donoghue for the full game.
MH had an opinion on previous Tyrone senior managements & occasionally shared it also!

I don't think this is the place to bring up bereavements and the like AZ & struggle to see what relevance it has to your argument.

Some final thoughts on Sunday

* Leaving a young developing rookie on O'Donoghue for the full 70mins was madness by the management. What impact will that have on the young lads development? I cannot for the life of me think what was going on in Hartes head there. Utter madness.
* Continued selection of a few players regardless of form. Was McAliskey injured? I don't see how McNiece in particular is in ahead of him no matter what angle I try and look at it.
* Substitution of McNabb - he is without question one of our best defenders. That's 3 times this year I can recall now where he has been subbed at half time. Whats the story, is it injury? His replacement maybe offers more going forward, but doesn't offer anywhere near the same defensive resolve. If McNabb is only fit for 35 mins then maybe finish with him on the field rather than start.
* Sticking Ronan O'Neill into the full forward line has to be questioned. He has been much more effective in the CHF position for College & County this year
* Switching Mattie Donnelly & Sean Cavanagh at half time with hindsight was catastrophic. Mattie not physical enough for Midfield & Sean wasn't mobile enough in the forwards
* Kick out strategy has been an issue now for as long as I can remember. Has it been discussed around Garvaghy at all? There is no evidence of any plan or strategy to date to rectify.
* Breaking ball - I am hoping that perhaps the players had a big week of heavy training, and perhaps that may shed some light on their perceived fatigue? We simply did not get the number of bodies in the correct zones to be able to pick up the dirty ball. However this was evident against Derry & Kildare as well so it shows signs of a bigger problem.
* Cathal McCarron is missed.
* Serious problems persist in the full back line. Its only March. I would like to see the management think outside of the box for a change & have another look at Dean McNally (Kildress) Not long back from a very serious injury yet had a good sigerson campaign, and a better man marking corner back than some of those options currently available
* I expect Mickey to name the exact same starting 15 for Westmeath. His mind games are easily read nowadays.

Despite that mauling, I still think we have a panel of players capable of mounting a serious charge for Sam. However management have a lot of issues to address.