Liverpool welcome Manchester City to Anfield in a blockbuster Super Sunday clash from the Premier League.
Should Leicester fail to beat Wolves in mid-afternoon, victory will send Liverpool third and four points off City, who are looking to pull a ten point lead on Jurgen Klopp’s Reds.
Team News
Sadio Mane could return for Liverpool after a knock kept him out their last two matches, including Wednesday’s defeat to Brighton.
Alisson (illness) and Fabinho (undisclosed) could also feature but Joel Matip (ankle), Naby Keita (muscle), Diogo Jota, Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk (all knee) on sidelines.
Man City have no fresh injury concerns to report despite Sergio Aguero resuming training following self-isolation, although the Argentinean is still absent as he rebuilds his match fitness.
Kevin De Bruyne (hamstring) and Nathan Ake (muscle) remain sidelined.
Stat Attack
- Liverpool have won just one of their last five league meetings against Man City (W1, D2, L2).
- Man City have taken one point from their last five league trips to Anfield (D1, L4).
- Reds’ Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane have scored in two of last three home outings against City in all competitions.
- Pep Guardiola’s Citizens have 14 league wins in 21 games this season, just as many victories as they managed after same stage last season.
- Joel Matip is the only Liverpool defender to have made a last man tackle this season, doing so on one occasion alongside midfielders – James Milner and Thiago Alcantara.
Prediction
After Wednesday’s flat performance against Brighton, this is a must-win for Liverpool because if they lose this to drop ten points behind City then it is essentially game over in their title defence.
I therefore am hoping that we see a rejuvenated Liverpool attack now Mane is set to be in the lineup whilst Alisson should provide City a real test given his goalkeeping quality, although Caoimhin Kelleher did well in midweek but he is too young to keep City out all match.
Speaking of the Citizens, they did a solid job at Burnley but really will need to crack the whip on their shooting ability here, because they seemed to lack power on some shots and mistimed their aims on other shots.
If they repeat those sloppy moments here against Alisson then they are in for a rough match, especially given their poor record at Anfield, so I am plumping for a score draw if Jurgen Klopp can find extra gears in his stumbling Reds.
Prediction: Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City
Result: Liverpool 1-4 Manchester City