Manchester City welcome Liverpool to the Etihad Stadium in Saturday’s early kick off hoping to keep pace with Premier League leaders Arsenal.
The Citizens come into this game after the international break eight points behind The Gunners in the race for the title. This tough match up with Liverpool offers them the chance to reduce that lead back to five points before Arsenal in action at 3pm.
Fortress.
City have the second best home record in the Premier League so far this season, losing just once in Manchester heading into this. Home form is key to a strong title challenge and Pep Guardiola’s men have done a great job of making the Etihad a fortress this campaign.
In complete contrast, Liverpool’s away form is among some of the worst in the league. The Reds have had a rather underwhelming season up to this point and, now out of every other competition, their focus is firmly fixed on landing a top four finish.
All to play for.
No team in Premier League history has failed to win the title with a lead as big as Arsenal’s at this point in the season. However, The Gunners still have some massive games to play, including a potential title decider at The Etihad, so it’s still all to play for and Guardiola will be telling his men as much.
Jurgen Klopp will be telling his boys not to give up either, as they continue to chase a Champions League finish. The Merseysiders are seven points behind fourth placed Tottenham with a couple of games in hand, so it’s going to be an interesting end to the season for them.
Fitness concerns.
Guardiola will be sweating on the fitness of Erling Haaland. The striker withdrew from international duty after sustaining an injury in City’s 6-0 FA Cup win over Burnley. That will likely present Julian Alvarez with a chance to stake his claim up front in an expected front three for the hosts.
Liverpool have their own fitness concerns, with Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz and Joe Gomez all unlikely to feature in this crunch match. It will make an already difficult game even harder, however there are some able deputies on the Reds bench.
Big game players.
If either of these teams is going to win this titanic clash, then they’re going to need their big game players to turn up. For Liverpool, that player is undoubtedly Mo Salah. The Egyptian striker isn’t having his best goalscoring season, but has scored in his last three games against Manchester City. He will be the one to watch for the visitors.
For the hosts, losing Haaland will put pressure on Kevin De Bruyne to put in a world class performance that we know he’s more than capable of. He will be tasked with bringing that creative spark to the City attack to help create chances for the likely makeshift attacking line.
Suggested bets.
- Manchester City to Win & BTTS
- Kevin De Bruyne to Score Anytime
- 3-2 Correct Score
