Prediction: Liverpool vs Manchester City

Verdict: Away win

Best odds: 23/20

Bookmaker: Unibet

Having played a 1-1 draw at the Etihad back in November, Liverpool and Manchester City will take each other on in the Premier League for the second time this season on Sunday. The venue is Anfield this time, of course, and the game will be a part of the 23rd round of the 2020-21 campaign in the English top flight.

Liverpool

The season has been unusual in so many ways for practically every club across the globe in light of the ongoing pandemic, but few have had such misfortunes as the still reigning Premier League champions.

Injuries have decimated Jurgen Klopp’s team so severely, that it’s practically a miracle that they are in the conversation about the title this term at all. They went into the season with three designated centre-backs and have now lost all three for the remainder of the campaign. A midfielder, chosen as to serve as the fourth one if need be, has also been injured, as have numerous others in all sections of the squad.

To counter the issue, Liverpool secured two defensive Deadline Day signings in January, Ozan Kabak on loan from Schalke 04 and Ben Davies from Preston North End, and the two newcomers are expected to be put to the test very soon.

Be that as it may, Liverpool are currently in fourth place, seven points off leaders Manchester City, who also have a game in hand on them. Even if they win this game, it’ll still be a hard task to catch up. A top-four finish is perhaps a more realistic target at this point.

Liverpool’s current predicament (regarding their position in the table) is mainly due to the very poor run of form recently. They won only two of their last six league matches, 1-3 away to Tottenham Hotspur and by the same scoreline away to West Ham, they played a goalless draw at home against Manchester United, and they lost three times – 0-1 at home to Burnley, 1-0 away to Southampton, and most recently 0-1 at home against Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday. The two wins came directly before the defeat to the Seagulls, offering apparently a false sense of a resurgence.

Liverpool had problems in the Champions League as well, but they ended the first stage on a high by winning Group D, ahead of Atalanta, Ajax and Midtjylland. RB Leipzig are the team they’ll be facing in the round of 16.

Team News

As has already been said, all three players that made Liverpool’s centre-back department at the start of the season have been ruled out, most likely until the summer. Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez both suffered serious knee injuries, and Joel Matip tore his ankle ligaments in the win over Spurs.

Fabinho, who mostly stood in as an auxiliary centre-back this term, was also unavailable for the last two games, but he is back in training and could be named to start. If he does, it remains to be seen if Klopp puts his faith in young Nathaniel Phillips again, or decides to give a chance to one of the two newcomers, Kabak or Davies.

The arrival of these two players will likely mean a return to midfield for captain Jordan Henderson, who should be joined there by Thiago Alcantara and Georginio Wijnaldum. Naby Keita is out.

Forward Diogo Jota is still a few weeks off having suffered a knee injury of his own, and that leaves the manager with no real choice but to name Sadio Mane, who also missed the last two matches, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah upfront. He could perhaps, start Divock Origi, but given the Belgian’s total lack of form this season, it’s not to be expected unless Mane is deemed unable to play the full 90 minutes.

Manchester City

The campaign has been a different story for Pep Guardiola’s side. Not that they didn’t have injury problems of their own; the start was a slow one, and there was a point when the media actually stopped counting them among the genuine title contenders. But they have now stabilized and achieved a high level of consistency, even if their game isn’t as quick and exciting as it was two or three years ago.

City have now won their last 13 games in all competitions, a truly remarkable feat. Their last six league outings were triumphs over Brighton 1-0 at home, over Crystal Palace 4-0 at home, over Aston Villa 2-0 at home, over West Bromwich Albion 0-5 away, over Sheffield United 1-0 at home, and over Burnley 0-2 away.

Guardiola’s team sit at the top of the table with 47 points, with a game in hand on the next five teams – Manchester United (44 points), Leicester City (42), Liverpool (40), West Ham (38) and Chelsea (36). It’s obvious that they are in pole position in this race at the moment.

Like Liverpool, City won their Champions League group, finishing above FC Porto, Olympiacos and Olympique Marseille, and like Liverpool, they will be facing a German team in the round of 16 – Borussia Monchengladbach.

Team News

The visitors will be without some important players too, though not as many. Defender Nathan Ake has had hamstring issues throughout the season and he won’t be making the Anfield trip. Striker Sergio Aguero is also out, and has been for a major part of the campaign so far. The Argentinian has only played in five Premier League games so far.

But the most significant absence for Guardiola’s team at this point is probably Kevin De Bruyne. The brilliant Belgian has been out with a hamstring problem since the Aston Villa game on January 20th and he won’t play against Liverpool either.

Ake probably wouldn’t start this game even if he were fit. The back four is likely to consist of Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias as the centre-backs with Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo covering their flanks. In the absence of De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva will be stepping into the breach and play alongside Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan in midfield. Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus are the obvious candidates to form the attacking line, though Guardiola could alternatively put young Phil Foden in somewhere.

Conclusion

Liverpool’s games are always hard to predict, that is probably clear to everyone who has ever tried, with the possible exception of last season. City’s less so; but not when they face Liverpool.

City somehow always play at the same, high level against these opponents. Liverpool, on the other hand, have been known to fall apart completely against City, losing 5-0 or 4-0, but when they hit the right gear, they’ve been known to utterly outplay and beat City comprehensively, something no other team has done since Guardiola’s appointment. In the last four and a half years, the games between these opponents have yielded anything from zero goals to seven.

But at the moment, it feels like City are going to take advantage of the wind currently blowing into their backs and increase the gap.

Verdict: Away win

Best odds: 23/20

Bookmaker: Unibet