Man City midfielder Rodri explains what he loves about Liverpool and why matches against the Reds are his favourites

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Liverpool enjoyed themselves against Manchester City with a big win at Anfield last week.

The Reds have had some epic battles with the champions over recent years, but picked up a more routine win this time around.

Part of the reason Liverpool were able to dominate City was the absence of midfielder Rodri.

Rodri is the current Ballon d’Or holder and is widely seen as the best defensive midfielder in the game right now.

The Spaniard has proven a thorn in the Liverpool side many times since his arrival at City in 2019 and his inability to play was undoubtedly a boost for the Reds’ chances of winning.

But if Liverpool were happy to take advantage of Rodri not being on the pitch at Anfield, it sounds like the City man himself was simply gutted to miss out on the occasion.

Rodri explains Liverpool admiration

Rodri has spoken well of Liverpool in the past and it’s clear that the 28-year-old has great respect for the Reds.

Although he and City have often come out on top in their battles with each other, Rodri has obviously garnered an appreciation of the way Liverpool play.

This was again on show when the Spain international was asked about big teams being involved in ‘cagey’ matches against each other during an interview with Four Four Two.

“I think it’s a big indication that between two big teams you see when you defend, you defend very deep,” he says.

READ MORE: Former Arsenal and Man City defender Gael Clichy gives new verdict on title race after Liverpool drop points

“Because normally ‘I punch you, I punch you,’ and maybe the game is more open but now you see that it doesn’t matter if the level of the two teams is similar, when you defend you go back and when you attack you spread.

“That’s why I enjoy most of the games we play against Liverpool,” Rodri adds.

“It’s great because it’s like, ‘I don’t care, I want to punish you’ and we have the same feeling. They are not conservative, they go with their mentality and once you are on the pitch you enjoy those moments because it’s not just the same [style of] game.”

When do Liverpool play Man City again?

While Liverpool have built up an encouraging, nine point lead over Man City, they will be wary of getting ahead of themselves.

As Wednesday’s draw with Newcastle showed, there is still such a long way to go in this Premier League season. Nothing is anything like decided yet.

One game that is likely to have a big bearing on whether Liverpool can wrestle back the title is their return fixture against City at the Eithad Stadium.

As it often is, the first meeting of the season between the two title rivals was at Anfield. Thankfully, Liverpool won that.

The next game comes on the weekend of February 22nd, which will be matchday 26 of the season. Ruled out for the entirety of the campaign, we won’t see Rodri in that one either. But he’ll no doubt already be looking ahead to when he can next face his favourite side next term.