Focus Fixture: Will Liverpool keep their unbeaten home record with the visit of Manchester City

Two Premier League heavyweights go toe-to-toe on Sunday as Liverpool play Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s side are in search of a rare win at Anfield to seize the initiative in the title race.

The Form

Jurgen Klopp’s final months as Liverpool boss promise to be enthralling. The German has captured the hearts and minds of the supporters during his tenure. His only league title at the club was impacted by covid. The German would love nothing more than to win his second with a crowd in attendance. 

Liverpool have won their last seven matches. They needed an extra-time winner from Virgil Van Dijk to beat Chelsea in the League Cup final. Klopp has had to rely on several young players with some key players injured but performances have remained at a high level.

The Reds beat Sparta Prague 5-1 away from home midweek to keep their hopes of a quadruple alive. Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz got on the scoresheet and will be key when they square off against Manchester City this weekend.

Pep Guardiola's side also have momentum coming into this match. They are unbeaten in their last 20 games across all competitions and have managed to win 18 of those matches. 

Manchester City dominated Manchester United in their last match. They fell behind thanks to a superb effort from Marcus Rashford but the magic of Erling Haaland and Phil Foden proved decisive as they laid siege to the United goal.

The Citizens are a point behind Liverpool heading into the weekend. The major concern for Pep Guardiola is that his side have only managed one win over Liverpool at Anfield since he took over at City. That was a 4-1 victory back in February 2021.

The Runners and the Riders

Liverpool have plenty of injury concerns but crucially, Klopp will have his starting forward line available to him here. Nunez, Diaz and Salah should all feature from the start. Joe Gomez and Ibrahim Konate were brought off injured in the win over Sparta Prague. Trent Alexander-Arnold remains absent, while Alisson will also be out of the reckoning against Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola has also dealt with injuries to key players this season but he almost has a full squad to choose from coming into the weekend. Kevin De Bruyne is at his best after being ruled out of the opening months of the season. Haaland is also in fine form since returning from injury. Matheus Nunes was forced off with a finger injury against FC Copenhagen but it’s unclear how long he will miss.

What They Said

Liverpool are still fighting on several fronts but Jurgen Klopp has refused to prioritise any of the competitions. The German said “We would not have won the League Cup, we would not be in the next round of the FA Cup, we would not still be in the Europa League if we would prioritise a competition. We never did – maybe it would be smart if we do it, but I am a bit dumb so I don’t know how to do that.”

Pep Guardiola said he and his Manchester City side will miss the challenge of facing Jurgen Klopp next season. He said “I have this feeling that he’s leaving part of us at Man City, too, as Liverpool have been our biggest rival in his years. He will be missed. Personally, I will miss him.”

Tip

The single tip for Liverpool vs Manchester City is for both teams to score in the match and over 2.5 goals. 

Jurgen Klopp’s side have been scoring for fun in their recent matches at Anfield. They have won all seven games in front of their home fans in 2024, scoring an average of 3.57 goals per game in the process. However, they have managed just one clean sheet in those matches and that came against Southampton in the FA Cup.

Manchester City have also been in fine scoring form in their away matches this calendar year. They have scored an average of 2.83 goals per match on the road and won all six. 

Clean sheets against Liverpool have been hard to come by for Pep Guardiola’s side. They have conceded in their last 10 head-to-heads with Jurgen Klopp’s team. Both teams have scored in nine of those matches and there has been an average of 3.7 goals over that period.

Key injuries in Liverpool’s defensive unit should mean they prioritise attacking threat over defensive stability and we should see a cracking game as a result.

Recommended Bet: Both Teams To Score & Over 2.5 Goals at 1.58

Bet Builder Tip

For our bet builder in this fixture, we are backing both teams to score along with Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez to find the net. These players have been at the heart of their team’s attack this season and the stats paint a very clear picture. 

Both of these players rank in the top 5% for non-penalty xG per 90 minutes when compared will all other forwards across Europe’s top five leagues. Darwin Nunez has 0.68 per 90 on this metric. 

The Uruguayan has the pace and physicality to cause problems for City’s defence. He has faced criticism for being wasteful in front of goal at times since joining but that hasn’t been the case of late. Nunez has five goals in his last four matches.

Haaland’s non-penalty xG per 90 minutes puts him in the 99th percentile in comparison to the rest of Europe’s top attackers. He has looked deadly since coming back from injury. He has 10 goals in nine starts in 2024.

Recommended Bet: Both Teams To Score & Over 2.5 Goals, Darwin Nunez To Score & Erling Haaland To Score at 5.6