Liverpool vs Manchester City
England – Premier League
Date: Sunday, 7 February 2021
Kick-off at 16:30 UK/ 17:30 CET
Venue: Anfield.
Liverpool will be looking to make amends for a shocking loss to Brighton when they host Manchester City at their Anfield on Matchday 23.
The Reds have already dropped too many points in the 2020/21 season, meaning that this has to go down as a must-win game for the home side.
However, home win should not be considered as Matip, Van Dijk, Fabinho, Mane, Jota, and Gomez remain on the sidelines.
First-choice goalkeeper Alisson, though, should recover in time to face Man City. Pep Guardiola’s troops, on the other hand, look unstoppable at the moment, with the team recording a routine 2-0 win at Burnley on Wednesday evening.
Even though Kevin de Bruyne and Kun Aguero are out of contention for the visitors, away win should be considered as Man City have been in a much better form of late than Liverpool.
Liverpool vs Manchester City: Head-to-head (h2h)
Teams Liverpool Manchester City played so far 49 matches.
Liverpool won 23 direct matches. Manchester City won 9 matches. 17 matches ended in a draw. On average in direct matches both teams scored a 2.82 goals per Match.
Liverpool vs Manchester City Prediction
Liverpool in actual season average scored 2.23 goals per match. In 11 (68.75%) matches played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 8 (50.00%) matches in season 2021 played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Manchester City average scored 2.03 goals per match in season 2021. In 11 (68.75%) matches played away was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 6 (37.50%) matches played away team was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Team News:
Liverpool could be handed a triple injury boost ahead of this match, with Klopp confirming that Sadio Mane, Alisson Becker and Fabinho will all be back in training beforehand.
Alisson missed the Brighton defeat due to illness but is now feeling better, while Mane and Fabinho have overcome relatively minor muscle problems and should go straight back into the starting lineup.
The champions' injury problems are still extensive - Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez could all miss the remainder of the season, while Diogo Jota and Naby Keita remain sidelined too - but their options have at least been bolstered by deadline day business.
New arrivals Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies are both in contention to make their debuts, which should free up captain Jordan Henderson to return to midfield after a spell at centre-back.
Question marks have been raised over whether Thiago Alcantara could drop out of the side, but Klopp is likely to keep faith with the midfielder in a team which will be far closer to their strongest possible XI with the returning trio.
Man City are also without a couple of key players in Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne, both of whom will miss the trip to Anfield due to fitness issues.
The visitors' form has not been affected by the absence of those two world-class stars, though, and Guardiola has the welcome headache of having to choose which of his in-form players start on Sunday.
Gabriel Jesus will be hoping that goals in his last two games earn him a starting role, while the likes of Kyle Walker, Phil Foden, Benjamin Mendy and Ferran Torres all missed out against Burnley.
Aymeric Laporte played at left-back in that match but may drop out unless Guardiola opts to switch things up with a three-at-the-back formation as he has done at times recently.
Raheem Sterling is expected to start against his former club, and he needs just one more goal to reach 100 under Guardiola - a tally only Lionel Messi and Aguero have managed before.
Arguably the first name on the team sheet right now is Ilkay Gundogan, who has contributed to eight goals in his last 10 Premier League outings - as many as he had in his previous 61.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Kabak, Fabinho, Robertson; Thiago, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Cancelo; Bernardo, Rodri, Gundogan; Mahrez, Jesus, Sterling