Ahead of Manchester City’s upcoming battle with rivals Liverpool, there are a number of subplots to look out for.
Pep Guardiola will be looking to get one over on his old adversary Jurgen Klopp, with the German manager currently just ahead in their head-to-head record.
Ilkay Gundogan may be picked to start, with his future still firmly up in the air. Luis Diaz is poised for a Liverpool return, although the likes of Kyle Walker will be hoping that his pace remains on the bench for as long as possible.
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But, more than most, the media’s attention will be on Erling Haaland. It’s a situation that he’s obviously grown used to by now, having had a season that many considered to be impossible.
Injury kept him out of the Norwegian set-up during the international break and, though he still remains a doubt going into the fixture, there is probably no other team he’d want to come up against than Liverpool, with an old score to settle.
In what feels like a lifetime ago, the season started at the King Power Stadium, as these two sides contested the Community Shield. Depending on how you feel about the annual curtain-raiser, the match is either an opportunity to claim the first trophy of the season or a glorified friendly.
The unusual setting could have made for a drab affair, but City and Liverpool don't often play in first gear - especially against each other.
The narrative of the game was a tale of two new strikers. While Haaland had made his hotly anticipated switch from Borussia Dortmund, Darwin Nunez had arrived in Liverpool from Benfica. The Community Shield would be the first chance for fans to see how these two attackers, both weighed down by hefty price tags, would fare in their respective new environments.
By the time the game was over, it might have been easy to draw some false conclusions. Liverpool ended up 3-1 winners thanks to a deflected strike from Trent Alexander-Arnold and a penalty from Mohamed Salah, along with a header from Nunez to clinch the victory. It was the Uruguayan who won the spot-kick converted by Salah.
His fellow summer striker signing had a day to forget. With his side 1-0 down, he managed to get a close-range finish all wrong, instead scooping it up into the air. At 3-1 down, a save by goalkeeper Adrian sent the ball perfectly into his path, only for the Norwegian to miss an open goal, firing the ball against the crossbar.
Questions were already being asked. Would he be able to replicate the sparkling form he’d shown in Germany? Had City put all of their eggs into one basket on a day when Julian Alvarez briefly had the sides level?
Of course, looking back now, it seems silly and preposterous that those doubts surfaced, even if they mainly originated from rival fans looking to make the most of a sign of weakness. Since then, Haaland has scored an eye-watering 42 goals, whilst also providing five assists along the way. Nunez has notched 14 goals and four assists, still a decent return for his first season in the Premier League but nowhere near the levels Haaland has reached.
We've not seen someone as hungry for goals as Haaland before. And every time he inevitably smashes the ball into the net, he’ll no doubt be thinking about those debut misses, smiling at the thought of anyone who was foolish enough to doubt his credentials.
Liverpool will hope that he’s ruled out on Saturday because the only thing more frightening at the moment than Haaland is an Erling Haaland searching for revenge.
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