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Liverpool and Manchester City meet at Anfield on Sunday, with the defending champions needing to win on Merseyside to have any chance of taking over the Premier League leaders. Pep Guardiola’s men are eight points behind in this match, while Arne Slot’s side have an 11-point cushion in their sights, which could potentially end the hopes of a fifth consecutive EPL crown for the visitors.
The home side defeated Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League in midweek thanks to goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo and a penalty save against Kylian Mbappé from Caoimhin Kelleher, keeping the Reds 100% in Europe. Mohamed Salah’s missed penalty did no damage to Slot’s forces, who currently lead both domestically and on the continent, but he was the hero last time out in the EPL away to Southampton.
The Dutch tactician’s former club Feyenoord damaged City in midweek by battling back from 3-0 down to a 3-3 draw, with Guardiola and his players making unwanted history as the first UCL side to ever open a three-point lead goals with 15 minutes to go. The Catalan tactician looked distressed after the match with scratches on his head and face and a visible cut on his nose, having just seen his side fail to win for the sixth consecutive match in all competitions. City may be on a four-match unbeaten run against Liverpool, but Guardiola has won just 27% of his encounters with the Merseyside giants – his worst ratio against any side he has faced five or more times.
Here are our storylines, how to watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Sunday December 1 | Time: 11am ET
- Location: Etihad Stadium – Manchester, England
- Watch: US network | Current: Fubo (free trial)
- Chances: Liverpool+110; Sign +270; City +230
Season so far
Liverpool know that a win can give them an 11-point lead at the top of the Premier League, but a defeat still leaves them with five points. The Reds have won six games in all competitions, with Slot boosted by three clean sheets against Real Madrid, Aston Villa and Bayer Leverkusen, as well as at least two goals in each of those matches. The Dutchman has joined Carlo Ancelotti and Guus Hiddink as the EPL managers who have won 10 of their first 12 games.
City could fall out of the top four completely this weekend as Arsenal and Chelsea look to make the most of Brighton and Hove Albion’s draw against Southampton. A humiliating 4-0 thrashing against Tottenham Hotspur is made worse by the fact that Liverpool could add to a run of four consecutive away defeats for Guardiola’s side. However, the Citizens have scored in 26 consecutive games, with their last goal coming almost a year ago against Aston Villa.
Team news
Liverpool: Trent Alexander-Arnold is fit again while Conor Bradley picked up an injury against Real along with Ibrahima Konate who expects to be sidelined. Joe Gomez could start alongside Virgil van Dijk, but Federico Chiesa, Diogo Jota, Alisson Becker and Kostas Tsimikas are not expected back for Slot, who could swap Dominik Szoboszlai for Curtis Jones.
Possible Liverpool XI: Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, MacAllister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz; Nunez.
City: Ruben Dias should be back while Jeremy Doku is almost recovered, but John Stones, Rodri, Oscar Bobb and Mateo Kovacic are all out. Guardiola could use Kevin De Bruyne from the start as opposed to midweek, while Savinho could also come on while Matheus Nunes is also an option.
Possible city XI: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Ake; Nunes, Gundogan, De Bruyne; Silva, Haaland, Savinho.
Prediction
Liverpool will definitely be happy with the timing of this game and City’s form. Given their momentum, it’s hard to imagine Slot’s men not seizing this opportunity to finally bury Guardiola’s side and their lingering title hopes. Choose: Liverpool 2, City 0.