Jurgen Klopp (L) and Pep Guardiola (Photo by Ian MacNicol & Michael Steele/Getty Images)

FORGET the fireworks in Sydney, London or any other major world city, the place to be this New Year’s Eve is Anfield.

The Premier League fixture computer, together with a little help from the TV companies, has ensured that we finish 2016 with a blockbuster match as Liverpool welcome Manchester City, and that is the main focus of the final PREMIER LEAGUE WEEKLY of the year.

It’s Jurgen Klopp against Pep Guardiola. It’s gegenpressing against tiki-taka. And it’s a match that will decide who are the more likely challengers to Chelsea in the second half of the season.

Will the better defence or the sharper attack win the day?

THERE is no doubt that for both Liverpool and City, attack is the best form of defence, or perhaps more realistically, attack is the only form of defence. In successive weekends at the start of the month, both defences creaked badly as City shipped seven in losses to Chelsea and Leicester and Liverpool let in six in losing at Bournemouth and drawing with West Ham. Those results allowed Chelsea to open up a six-point lead at the top, which neither team has been able to reduce despite three successive wins. So for the losers tomorrow, it would leave a long and difficult chase heading into the New Year.

Roberto Firmino (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Liverpool have been potent in attack, scoring the most goals in the division and averaging over three goals per match at home. They have goalscorers from every angle and Adam Lallana, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino are having stand-out seasons. When Divock Origi was summoned from the bench, he also slotted in seamlessly and scored in five successive games. They create the most chances in the division and they have played the most exciting football of the season so far. But their defence is the most porous of the top six, and that is a fault which cost them in 2014 if anyone remembers that painful night at Crystal Palace, when a 3-0 lead was squandered and the title was lost. And does anyone recall a team winning the league yet being unsure about their No.1 goalkeeper? It’s Simon Mignolet for now, but that says more about how Loris Karius spectacularly failed to grab his chance after Klopp had opted for the German rookie.

City’s barnstorming start to the season feels like a distant memory. It was six wins from six in August and September until a visit to Celtic in the Champions League exposed chinks in Guardiola’s armour. In many ways, they have not recovered that early season poise and wins have been much harder to come by. After ten out of ten in all competitions until that trip to Celtic Park, it is just seven from 18 games since then, and the goals have not been as free-flowing.

Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo (Martin Rickett/PA Wire)

But the real Achilles heel is their defence and goalkeeper. Claudio Bravo is a pale shadow of Joe Hart in goal, and while he may be able to pass out from the back, the Chilean has not made any defining saves to win the confidence of his defenders or spectators in the stands. Vincent Kompany remains a semi-permanent member of the Manchester City treatment room and the various defensive faults of John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi and Alekssandar Kolarov have been played out in an almost rotational manner. Without improvement either on the training ground or via the transfer window, defensive lapses will surely cost City any chance of the biggest prizes.

Player of the Day: Sergio Aguero

SERGIO AGUERO will step out for his first action tomorrow since his X-rated lunge on David Luiz in that pivotal 3-1 home defeat to Chelsea on December 3. Without him, City have ground out three wins but suffered that confidence-sapping 4-2 thumping at Leicester. Aguero has scored ten in the Premier League and six more in the Champions League this season, but that tally of 16 feels flattering in comparison with his general performances. Guardiola has hinted that Aguero must improve his overall game, and a manager of his ilk is one of those who don’t want players who can ONLY put the ball in the net. So the Argentine has to develop other strings to his bow.

Sergio Aguero of Manchester City (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

It has been suggested in certain quarters that Aguero is the only world class player currently playing in England, but that status has been strongly challenged during his absence. Alexis Sanchez has produced some incredible one-man shows for Arsenal, while Eden Hazard has been on fire for Chelsea during their 12-game winning streak. They have been inspiring their teams to great feats, and now it’s Aguero’s turn to try and replicate that. City will be under the cosh under the Anfield lights, so they need a big performance from their star man at the other end. If Aguero is the best in the league as some claim, surely a striking fireworks display on New Year’s Eve would be the ideal demonstration of that quality.

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Can Leicester end their amazing year on the right note?

IT would be wrong in this last blog of 2016 not to talk about Leicester City. This has been, and always will be, their special year. This time 12 months ago, they were level with Arsenal at the top of the league but no one was expecting a real challenge from the Foxes for the Premier League title. How wrong we all were. Claudio Ranieri’s men more than doubled their points from the halfway stage as all their rivals blew up and coasted to an incredible title success by a whopping ten points.

Going into this season, nobody was expecting a robust title defence but to see them currently in 16^th place and just three points above the relegation zone is a major surprise. There are many factors that have caused the slump – complacency, loss of form, the magic has worn off, luck has gone against them, extra games in the Champions League, new signings have not had the desired impact, the loss of N’Golo Kante – but that must not detract from their overall achievements in 2016. A home game with West Ham is the last outing of the year and a chance to get three points to help their position in the current season and end the year in the manner it deserves.