MatchThe opposition lowdown: Manchester City
Recent form
City head in to the clash top of the Premier League having taken 28 points from their 12 games so far.
They have scored 21 goals in their last six fixtures in all competitions, with the most recent of those a 4-4 draw at Chelsea prior to the international break.
Pep Guardiola’s side boast a perfect home record this season, having won all seven matches played at the Etihad so far.
The view from Manchester City
David Mooney, The Blue Moon/Let Me Talk podcasts
On City so far this season…
Things have been a bit of a mixed bag this season, really. At times, they’ve looked really good and tidy, and at others (largely without Rodri, it has to be said) they’ve looked like they’ve struggled to assert themselves on the game.
No performance has really hit the heights of last season, but that’s to be expected at this stage – City tend to go into their ‘must-win mode’ towards the back end of the campaign, as Arsenal found out last March, April and May.
On City’s key players…
The two differing performances have come from the availability of key players. With Rodri available, City look so much more like their usual selves (apart from that 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge recently) as he’s able to dictate the tempo and impose City’s game on the opponent. When he was missing through suspension, City lost all three games and couldn’t control especially the matches against Wolves and Arsenal.
At the same time, John Stones is very important to how City play. He’s barely been available this season through injury and he’s still going to be out when Liverpool come to town – but in the few games he’s played, City’s level went up again.
Jeremy Doku has been lively and exciting on the flank, too, but he’s just still settling in.
It’s easy to look at the likes of Erling Haaland or Bernardo Silva, but without them in various games Guardiola does and will find a solution.
However, missing Rodri is always a tough loss and Guardiola himself often says without Rodri he needs Stones, so those are the absolute key players.
Predicted line-up (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol; Rodri, Bernardo, Kovacic; Foden, Doku, Haaland.
Previous meetings
The teams met four times in all competitions last season, with each winning twice.
Liverpool were 3-1 winners in the FA Community Shield in July 2022, and then prevailed 1-0 at Anfield in the Premier League courtesy of a Mohamed Salah goal when the sides clashed in the October.
City knocked the Reds out of the Carabao Cup last December with a 3-2 win, and then claimed a 4-1 result in the league at the Etihad in April.
Liverpool’s last success at the Etihad in any competition was in April 2018 when they won 2-1 in the Champions League quarter-finals. Their last league victory at the stadium was in November 2015 when they triumphed 4-1.
What they said
Pep Guardiola
“We know each other quite well. Of course, the time goes forward so Jürgen has been eight years at Liverpool and of course it’s not the same players since the start. Rebuilt a little bit the team. The idea is quite similar; of course, now Alexander-Arnold can play more inside sometimes, sometimes outside. But the idea is quite similar and always have been our best rivals. Sometimes when the season didn’t work well it was many injuries they had. Top club, top team. Looking forward to it.”