The two teams that have been the greatest rivals in the Premier League over the last four years will meet once again this Sunday at Anfield as Liverpool, currently top of the table, take on second placed Manchester City in what could be a key game in deciding the destination of the title.
The two teams have been embroiled in close battles over the last few years, with both winning the Premier League title and in that time, Liverpool have also reached the Champions League final twice, winning once, while City have also reached the final of the tournament last year, losing to Chelsea.
Since 1883, the teams have met 217 times, Liverpool winning 105 of those matches to City’s 58 with 54 games drawn. However, City have had the best of things in more recent times, winning four of the last six between the team (including an FA Community Shield win on penalties).
Last season, the two teams drew 1-1 at the Etihad in November, but City thrashed Liverpool
in February with a 4-1 win at Anfield, which saw Alisson make two uncharacteristic mistakes in the game to hand City the key advantage, from which Liverpool could not recover.
That win was City’s first at Anfield since 2005, when a Nicolas Anelka goal handed them a 1-0 victory.
When these two clash, it is always a massive betting event in the UK and if you fancy a wager with some of your bet365 Credits, or you just want to enjoy a real cash wager on the game, then check out what bet365 Sport has to offer.
Remember too, you can bet on the game from the United States if you are a fan of either team, with BetRivers Sportsbook offering excellent soccer betting throughout the year, especially on Premier League matches.
Let’s begin by looking at the full list of games in the Premier League this weekend. All games kick off at 3pm unless otherwise stated.
Premier League – Matchday 7
Saturday 2nd October
- Manchester United v Everton (12.30pm)
- Burnley v Norwich City
- Chelsea v Southampton
- Leeds United v Watford
- Wolverhampton Wanderers v Newcastle United
- Brighton v Arsenal (5.30pm)
Sunday 3rd October
- Crystal Palace v Leicester City (2pm)
- Tottenham v Aston Villa (2pm)
- West Ham v Brentford (2pm)
- Liverpool v Manchester City (4.30pm)
Currently in the table, Liverpool lead the way with 14 points and they remain the only team to be unbeaten so far this season. Behind them come five teams each on 13 points separated by goal difference alone in Man City, Chelsea, Man Utd, Everton and Brighton respectively.
West Ham, Aston Villa, Brentford and Arsenal finish off the top ten, with the Gunners leapfrogging one time leaders Tottenham to go into the top half.
At the foot of the table, Norwich remain pointless ahead of Burnley on two points and Leeds United, who are below Newcastle United (both with 3 points) on goal difference.
Liverpool v Manchester City Preview
Both teams were last in action in the Premier League last weekend when Manchester City earned a massive win away to Chelsea, while Liverpool were held 3-3 in an enthralling game with Brentford, the point enough to take them top due to Chelsea and Manchester United both losing games at the weekend.
They were both in action on Tuesday night in the Champions League too, suffering different outcomes to their away games. Manchester City were beaten 2-0 by Paris St Germain, but Liverpool were rampant against FC Porto coming away with a 5-1 victory on the road, to set them up very nicely for Sunday’s encounter.
Liverpool Preview
- League Performance – Played 6, Won 4, Drawn 2, Lost 0, +11 Goal Difference – 14 pts (1st)
- Top Goalscorers – Mo Salah (5), Sadio Mane (3), Diogo Jota (3)
- Manager – Jurgen Klopp
- Captain – Jordan Henderson
Team News
Liverpool look set to be without three players for the Manchester City game. Harvey Elliott is out for a long period, while Thiago and Trent Alexander-Arnold will both likely miss the game, although how long both players will be absent remains a mystery.
Other than that, the Reds retain a clean bill of health after their game with FC Porto on Tuesday night.
Four players have started all six Premier League games this season, Adrian, Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, while Diogo Jota has started five games and appeared in another as a substitute.
After such an emphatic win over Porto in midweek, it is hard to see manager Klopp making too many changes to the side for the game with City on Sunday, although after his two-goal cameo against Porto, Roberto Firmino may be pushing hard for Jota’s spot in the team.
Predicted Liverpool XI – (4-3-3) – Alisson, Milner, Robertson, Van Dijk, Matip, Henderson, Fabinho, Jones, Mane, Jota, Salah.
Manchester City Preview
League Performance – Played 6, Won 4, Drawn 1, Lost 1, +11 Goal Difference, 13 pts (2nd)
Top Goalscorers – Riyad Mahrez (4), Gabriel Jesus (3), Jack Grealish (2)
Manager – Pep Guardiola
Captain – Fernandinho
Team News
A 2-0 reverse against Paris St Germain in what is a very tough week of away games for Manchester City wasn’t the ideal preparation for the game with Liverpool, but manager Pep Guardiola will know that this game is arguably the most important of the three they will play this week.
Liverpool have been City’s main rivals for the past few years and after a solid start, the Man City boss will know away wins at Chelsea and Liverpool would put his team in a very strong position in the title race.
Bernard Mendy is ruled out of this game and Ilkay Gundogan will also miss out, but John Stones should be fit again after missing all City’s Premier League games this season through injury, although he is only likely to start on the bench due to the fine form of Laporte and Dias.
It will be interesting to see whether Guardiola persists with his ‘false nine’ attacking trio, or whether Gabriel Jesus will get the centre forward role in what promises to be an intriguing game at Anfield this Sunday.
Predicted Manchester City XI – (4-3-3) – Ederson, Walker, Cancelo, Laporte, Dias, Rodri, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Mahrez, Grealish, Jesus
Match Tips
I think this game will be a much closer affair than Manchester City’s 4-1 win at Anfield last
season, when some awful Liverpool defending contributed to the scale of the defeat. The Reds also have their first choice centre back pairing back for this game, which will make a big difference.
City though will be confident after beating Chelsea last weekend and they do have the better of more recent games against Liverpool, although their record at Anfield, last season’s win apart, is generally pretty poor.
Liverpool look back to their best and they are scoring plenty of goals. Only Chelsea really managed to blunt their attack but even so, I expect the home side to come away with a narrow win here.
Take Liverpool to win at 9/5, and if you fancy the correct score bet, Liverpool to win 2-1 is an 11/1 shot with bet365 Sport.