THE top two sides from the last two seasons meet in a huge clash as both Manchester City and Liverpool set out to regain their unstoppable runs of form in that time.
Liverpool lead the table but have not looked their usual selves with narrow wins over Sheffield United and West Ham.
City have won six from eight since their alarming defeat against Leicester but many would argue they too have more to give.
- Man City take on Liverpool at 4.30pm.
- Man City vs Liverpool is live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League
- To stream the game live, head to your Sky Go account.
- Non-Sky Sports subscribers can watch with a Now TV Day Pass from £9.99.
- Man City XI: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; Rodri, Gundogan; Ferran, De Bruyne, Sterling; Jesus
- Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Gomez, Robertson; Henderson, Wijnaldum; Jota, Firmino, Mane; Salah
BEAT THE CHAMPS
City succeed when up against the title holders – but only when that doesn’t mean Liverpool.
TOP SPOT FOR THE TAKING
The final whistle has just gone at the King Power Stadium where Leicester City’s 1-0 win against Wolves has taken them to the top of the Premier League table.
The Foxes are the third team to enjoy the summit this weekend following Southampton on Friday evening and Tottenham Hotspur, who won at West Brom earlier today.
However, a Liverpool victory this afternoon, and it will be the Reds who go clear in first place, one point ahead of the Leicester side managed by their former boss Brendan Rodgers.
THE ETIHAD AWAITS
Now we’ve had confirmation of the teams, the stage is set for the two best sides in the country.
Kick-off is in 35 minutes.
CITY TRIO SET TO SHINE
Much has been rightly made of Liverpool’s front three (now front four?), but there is a lot to be excited by when looking at Manchester City’s attacking trio of Ferran Torres, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling.
CARRA CAN’T BELIEVE IT
Does this mean a change of shape for Liverpool, or will Jota slot into a midfield three?
LIVERPOOL SUBSTITUTES
13 Adrian, 7 Milner, 8 Keita, 17 Jones, 23 Shaqiri, 27 Origi, 47 Phillips.
LIVERPOOL XI
Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota all start for Liverpool! That’s the surprising news to take from Jurgen Klopp’s selection as he makes two changes after their thumping away win at Atalanta. Rhys Williams is replaced in defence by the returning Joel Matip while Curtis Jones drops to the bench to allow Roberto Firmino’s return. The suggestion is this will mean the visitors line up in a 4-4-2 formation, but don’t be surprised to see a 4-3-3 shape with Jota deeper in midfield.
1 Alisson, 66 Alexander-Arnold, 32 Matip, 12 Gomez, 26 Robertson, 14 Henderson, 5 Wijnaldum, 11 Salah, 9 Firmino, 20 Jota, 10 Mane.
MANCHESTER CITY SUBSTITUTES
13 Steffen, 5 Stones, 6 Ake, 11 Zinchenko, 20 Bernardo Silva, 47 Foden, 50 Garcia.
MANCHESTER CITY XI
Pep Guardiola makes five changes to the Manchester City side that saw off Olympiakos in midweek. Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte return to the centre of defence in place of John Stones and Nathan Ake while Joao Cancelo is in at left-back ahead of Oleksandr Zinchenko. Rodrigo gets the nod in midfield instead of Phil Foden while Riyad Mahrez is rotated to enable Gabriel Jesus’ return. The Brazilian leads the line of a 4-3-3 formation with Ferran Torres moved to the right.
31 Ederson, 2 Walker, 3 Dias, 14 Laporte, 27 Cancelo, 17 De Bruyne, 16 Rodrigo, 8 Gundogan, 21 Torres, 9 Jesus, 7 Sterling.
THE TEAM SHEETS ARE IN!
PEP’S KLOPP LOT
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has lost more games (8) against Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp than he has against any other manager in his career.
WEATHER WITH YOU
Surely a 42% chance of rain is positively tropical for Manchester?
LIVERPOOL LEAKING LOTS
Injuries to the likes of Alisson, Joel Matip, and, of course, Virgil van Dijk have caused upheaval to Jurgen Klopp’s defence this season, and so it may be no surprise to learn that the Reds have conceded 15 goals in their seven Premier League games so far – one more than bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United.
It took the champions 26 games to concede as many last season, and it is the most goals that the Reds have conceded in their opening seven league games since the 1964-65 campaign.
KLOPP’S COMEBACK KIDS
Liverpool have come from behind to win their last two Premier League games, defeating both West Ham and Sheffield United 2-1 at Anfield.
Indeed, since the start of last season, no Premier League side has won as many as Liverpool’s 28 points from losing positions..
The Reds have never won three consecutive Premier League games having conceded the first goal, with Arsenal the last team to do so in March 2012.
CITY VISIT LOOMS LARGE FOR LIVERPOOL
Despite Liverpool seemingly having the better of the head-to-head between these two clubs in recent years, when it comes to Premier League trips to the Etihad, the last few have caused them some concerns.
Manchester City have won their last three home league games against Liverpool by an aggregate score of 11-1, including a 4-0 thumping in July when the visitors had already been crowned champions.
City have not won four consecutive home league games against the Reds since March 1937.
GOOD AFTERNOON FROM THE ETIHAD
Welcome to our live coverage of the Premier League game between Manchester City and Liverpool.
It’s the clash of the season so far as the two previous champions of England meet with the expectation that it will be them again who fight it out for the title in 2021.
Neither club have begun this campaign with the swagger we’ve become accustomed to, and so this contest takes on extra importance despite its early scheduling.
City currently occupy the bottom half of the table, but are finding form with six wins and two draws from their last eight games in all competitions.
Sergio Aguero is out injured again, but Gabriel Jesus made a goalscoring return to action in the Champions League on Wednesday, and may be rewarded with a start today.
Despite the injuries, wobbles and odd humiliation that have hampered Liverpool’s title defence, a win in Manchester today would take them clear at the top and eight points ahead of their opponents.
Thiago and Fabinho are still missing alongside long-term absentees Virgil van Dijk and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. However, Joel Matip’s timely return to fitness should bring some security to a backline that is being breached too often.
Little thought has been given to the Reds’ reliable attack while Jurgen Klopp has been patching together his defence, but the impact made by Diogo Jota since joining the club may have made him too impressive to ignore – especially given Roberto Firmino’s lack of goals this year.
The action kicks-off at the Etihad at 4.30pm and we’ll bring you confirmation of the two teams shortly.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
