The same can be said for Maresca's opposite number, Andoni Iraola. Having replaced Slot in the summer, Iraola has guided the Reds through an unbeaten start to the season, but Florian Wirtz is still yet to click and questions remain over the make-up of Liverpool's midfield.

Liverpool are still very much a work in progress, while City's 5-3 win over Sunderland revealed defensive kinks that will need to be ironed out. Can Maresca keep his players focused and exploit Liverpool's weaknesses?

Can City midfield repel Liverpool's direct threat?

The main difference with Liverpool on the ball this season since the arrival of Iraola has been the speed with which they look to move the ball through the lines of attack - and linked to that is the aggression with which they look to win the ball back to sustain attacks.

Jeremy Jacquet and Alexis Mac Allister both rank in the top 15% of Premier League players in their position for line-breaking passes per 90, and Jacquet's composure from the back allows his well-timed interventions (he also ranks in the top 15% for tackles and interceptions) to become creative situations.

Though Liverpool are actually winning possession in the final third less often (3.6 times per 90) than last season (4.1), they are winning it more often in midfield (19.2 times per 90, compared to 18.5 last season).

That is a result of Iraola's man-to-man press compressing the pitch and offering opponents less time and space on the ball. With ball-playing centre-backs like Virgil van Dijk and Jacquet in the side, their ability to win the ball in these positions becomes an opportunity to attack in transition.

Wirtz has struggled to make his presence felt this season, and Isak could miss out with an injury picked up on international duty, leaving uncertainty around who lines up in attack.

Line-breaking passes are, of course, a major strength of City's, too - no player in the Premier League has averaged more per 90 than Elliot Anderson's 22.8 - but City have looked vulnerable when defending against direct, central attacking moves as they continue to adapt to Maresca's tactical tweaks for his midfielders and full-backs.

Part of this is due to the raft of changes in City's midfield, but Maresca's backline hasn't consistently been watertight. Though the back four has predominantly been made up of players who featured regularly last season - Marc Guehi arguably the most consistent - the adjusted responsibilities of the full-backs has at time led to confusion.

While Matheus Nunes, Josko Gvardiol, Nico O'Reilly and Rico Lewis are all tactically-versatile players, none are defence-first options without obvious weaknesses.

The two most likely to start against Liverpool are Nunes and Gvardiol, though centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov has also been used at right-back.

While Nunes is excellent on the ball, he is also strong in duels and uses these attributes to hold the fort effectively in possession - 0.85 touches in the opposition box per 90 (23rd percentile) making it clear that he is not being instructed to use his skill on the ball in the final third.

Despite that, he can be vulnerable at times in one-v-one situations. Nunes makes an average of 1.21 tackles per 90 (21st percentile), but is dribbled past 0.85 times per 90 (44th percentile) - not the worst numbers you'll see, but below what might be expected of the starting right-back for a title-challenging team.

Gvardiol is a stronger one-v-one defender on the opposite side, making nearly double the number of tackles (2.28) while being dribbled past half as often (0.41), but has struggled at times with more physical tasks, winning just 45.8% of his aerial duels.

He is also prone to lapses in concentration when it comes to positioning and marking, allowing Brian Brobbey to tap the ball into the net for his hat-trick unmarked against Sunderland and enduring a performance he will be desperate to forget in England's 7-0 thrashing of Croatia during the international break.

The gaps between the full-backs on both sides and their respective centre-backs were exploited relentlessly by Sunderland, both for that goal - which came from a lofted ball over the top of Nunes from Granit Xhaka to find Nilson Angulo - and for the first equaliser, in which Brobbey was played in with a ball between Nunes and Ruben Dias after Enzo Le Fee had evaded Enzo Fernandez.

Beware the long balls

Another strength of Liverpool's corresponds with a notable weakness of City's - long balls. The Reds are second in the league behind Sunderland for successful long balls this season (28.6 per 90), and Brobbey's third was not the only goal City have conceded after a long ball this season.

Marcus Tavernier's goal for Bournemouth in their 2-1 defeat at the Etihad in August came after Dias and Khusanov failed to deal with a long ball played quickly after winning it back, much as former Bournemouth boss Iraola is now coaching Liverpool to do.

A shortage in terms of height and physicality might be playing its part here. Of their regular outfield starters (O'Reilly excluded, who is a doubt to feature against Liverpool), only Erling Haaland is taller than 6'1", and that has also seen them struggle to deal with set pieces this season.

In fact, City are ranked 18th in the league for xG conceded from set pieces (2.1), so can arguably count themselves lucky to have only conceded once from such situations this season - Coventry coming the closest to adding to that having given them a scare with a simple long-throw routine in City's 1-0 win at the Etihad last month.

This is a potential game-winning condition for Liverpool given the height and aerial ability in Iraola's side, particularly if Jacquet and Ronald Araujo both start.

The arrival of the pair - who can point to 76.9% and 72.0% aerial win rates in the league this season - has significantly beefed up the profile of the Reds' defenders, while Liverpool's captain Virgil van Dijk (71.4%) also remains elite in this respect.

They are yet to score from a set-piece in the league this season, but have created chances worth 2.0 xG so far - and City will need to stay switched on to ensure that duck isn't broken on Sunday.

Fernandez v Szoboszlai and midfield 'holes'

Though City have experienced some issues off-the-ball in midfield this season, Liverpool have had just as many if not more problems with adapting their midfield setup to a new tactical system.

For City, adaptation was always going to be necessary after Rodri's departure to Barcelona, and Fernandez offers one of the more intriguing examples of Maresca's innovation.

Fernandez has typically started in a deeper role alongside Anderson, before pushing up to support the attack to the right of Cherki. The standout trait he brings to City's midfield, like Anderson, is his passing through the lines - completing an average of 13.52 line-breaking passes per 90 (97th percentile), the former Chelsea midfielder is elite in this respect.

His competitive edge is also undeniable. Fernandez is in the top 25% of Premier League attacking midfielders for duels won, duel and aerial duel percentage won and interceptions per 90.

However, Fernandez has so far showed a fragility in the other aspects of his defending at City. Le Fee was able to waltz between him and Anderson to set up Brobbey for Sunderland's first equaliser, with Fernandez showing a concerning lack of urgency in trying to win the ball back.

Indeed, Fernandez has only made an average of 0.99 tackles per 90 (18th percentile) this season, but has been dribbled past 1.65 times per 90 (7th percentile). Bypassed too easily at times, Fernandez is prone to frustration, and has committed a high number of fouls per game (1.98 - 11th percentile) since joining City.

When City are in sustained possession, this has presented less of a problem as one of the full-backs is always available to support Anderson and provide a base from which to win the ball back if it breaks.

But when City switch to their 4-4-2 defensive block, or find themselves in transition back towards the more defensive shape, Liverpool could take advantage if they focus their attacks centrally.

Liverpool, meanwhile, have encountered a similar issue with Dominik Szoboszlai, who more often than not this season has been tasked with operating in a deeper role as part of a double pivot with Mac Allister.

Szoboszlai, however, is a player with attacking instincts, and constantly looks to make runs ahead of the ball or get into wider areas to utilise his crossing ability.

The Hungary captain is capable of moments of genius, but his freer role has seen him go completely absent from the midfield battle in too many games this season.

Szoboszlai, despite his obvious work rate, ranks in just the 31st percentile of Premier League midfielders for tackles per 90 and the 49th percentile for interceptions, along with winning a meek 33.3% of his duels.

To counter this obvious weakness, Iraola appears to be instructing one of his full-backs to hold back when the other goes forward, meaning the Reds have another player in reserve to press an opponent when receiving the ball.

Liverpool's press, then, is a whole-team endeavour. But if City's technicians are able to evade the press it could come undone. With two midfields facing off that are prone to leaving the occasional gap, the one thing you can safely predict is that Sunday promises to be an open game.

Cherki the magician: How can City win?

Maresca was chosen as successor for his similarities to Guardiola, having worked under the Catalan as assistant manager during the treble-winning season 2022/23, but there are subtle differences.

Like his predecessor, Maresca is focused on positional discipline and creating overloads in the attacking third, typically using one of his full-backs to reinforce the midfield in possession whilst other players push on.

As you'd expect, Maresca's side have had no trouble keeping the ball this season, averaging 63.1% possession - a 2.6% increase on last season - while expected goals (xG: 2.1) and big chances (3.4) per 90 have seen an uptick, too, even as fewer average touches in the opposition box (30.8) compared to last season (37.1) reflect a slightly more direct approach in the final third.

Crossing has notably become more prevalent for City with the change in the dugout. Last season, City and Liverpool both averaged 4.4 crosses per 90 - this season, City on average are crossing the ball 5.2 times per 90, more than all but three sides in the league.

These crosses are coming from either the wider full-back or the wingers, depending on the situation. O'Reilly and Phil Foden have each averaged 1.64 successful crosses per 90 this season, underlining the pragmatism with which Maresca is seeking to adjust City's style as the league evolves rapidly.

That more pragmatic approach suits the big man in the middle. Even in a more physical Premier League, Haaland is capable of beating most centre-backs in the air (winning 52.9% of his aerial duels this season).

Crosses into Haaland can also lead to knock-downs for City's other attackers, predominantly Rayan Cherki or whoever features at No. 10 - in possession, this player stays close to Haaland in a front two shape.

Naturally, all of this hinges on Haaland being fit for Sunday's game, having been withdrawn for Norway against Portugal. Without him, aerial crosses will become redundant up against Liverpool's giant centre-backs, though you can still expect City to look to reach the byline and cut the ball back whenever possible.

Dealing with Cherki, though, will be an entirely different prospect for Iraola's side. City's creator-in-chief is the joint-third top goalscorer in the league with three and has created the most chances (12) of any player in sky blue this season.

The home midfield will need to stay switched on to cut out the service into the Frenchman, while whoever features at right-back for Liverpool (which may not be Araujo if Jacquet's injury rules him out) will need to be wary of Cherki's well-timed runs into the channels.

With the way that Iraola instructs his centre-backs to press man-to-man, Jacquet or Araujo will likely be tasked with dealing with the No. 10 before he can turn.

That could prove troublesome for Liverpool if Cherki drops deep into the midfield to evade the aggressive centre-back press, potentially opening up space in behind the defence for Antoine Semenyo or Iliman Ndiaye to exploit - while if Jacquet is absent, Liverpool will be reliant on the unfamiliar relationship between Araujo and former City player Jeremie Frimpong at right-back to deal with Cherki's runs and balls in behind to the left winger.

If City can stay switched on, there is plenty of scope for them to hurt their rivals.

For Liverpool, set-pieces will provide opportunities to score if Liverpool can earn enough of them. With Szoboszlai's delivery among the best in the league, and van Dijk, Jacquet and Araujo probably the strongest trio of defensive aerial threats in the league, the Reds have tools the quality of which City have not yet had to face this season.

*All statistics used are from Fotmob unless otherwise stated.