Liverpool travel to Manchester City on Sunday in a crucial clash for both teams’ chances of finishing in the top four of the Premier League this season. The race for the top four is delicately poised at the moment, with Liverpool in fourth place on 55 points, while City are in third place, just a point ahead of the Reds, but with a game in hand.
Pep Guardiola’s City team travelled to Monaco in midweek and suffered a 3-1 defeat, which ended their Champions League hopes for this season. It was a disappointing performance from City, who were wasteful in attack and exceptionally weak in defence. The only players who could emerge from the game with any credit were Leroy Sane, who took his goal well and was threatening in attack and Fernandinho, who was given the thankless task of being the only defensively minded player.
On the other hand, Liverpool will be in buoyant mood ahead of travelling to the Etihad Stadium. They’ve won two Premier League games in a row now, the first coming against Arsenal and the second against Burnley, where they went behind early in the game. Georginio Wijnaldum scored in both games.
Manchester City vs. Liverpool Predictions
This is a hard game to predict, as both sides can be wildly inconsistent. However, Liverpool have an excellent record against their top four rivals this season. Their problem has been against the so-called lesser teams in the league. City’s defeat to Monaco will have hurt them and it’ll be interesting to see if Guardiola makes any changes to his team. One thing that can be certain is that there will be goals, as neither side can defend.
Manchester City vs Liverpool Betting Tips
Manchester City are favourites to win at 20/21, but the form guide suggests that Liverpool, priced at 29/10, are quite good value heading into Sunday’s game. The draw is priced at 53/20. It would be no surprise to see this game featuring goals, over 3.5 goals is priced at 6/4, while over 4.5 goals is at 33/10. Sergio Aguero leads the goalscoring markets for City, priced at 33/10 to score first, while Divock Origi is Liverpool’s best hope to score anytime at 33/20.
Head to Head
- Manchester City have lost five of their last six Premier League meetings with Liverpool (W1).
- Liverpool have won four consecutive games against Manchester City for the first time since 1981.
- Manchester City have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 12 games in all competitions against Liverpool, conceding 23 goals in the process (W2 D4 L6).
- Sergio Aguero has scored in all four of his Premier League games against Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium (four goals).
- Liverpool are unbeaten in their nine games against sides currently in the top six of the Premier League table this season (W5 D4).
Manchester City Team News
Pep Guardiola has no fresh concerns ahead of the game, however he does have a number of long-term absentees in his squad. Gabriel Jesus, Ilkay Gundogan and Vincent Kompany are among them and all are unavailable for selection.
Liverpool Team News
Roberto Firmino could return to the Liverpool team, after he picked up an injury in the victory over Arsenal, however captain Jordan Henderson remains sidelined with a foot injury, while Daniel Sturridge is out with a hip injury.