It is the final game of a hectic Premier League fixture list and it is
arguably the biggest game of the season so far. Manchester City, the current Premier League champions, welcome Liverpool, the team most likely to inherit that title this season, to the Etihad in what promises to be an enthralling match up between the two teams.
A few weeks ago, the teams were unbeaten and seemingly heading into the Christmas period likely to come out neck and neck again in January, but things have gone very differently for both teams over the last few games and the result has been Liverpool opening up a commanding lead at the top of the Premier League table.
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Manchester City v Liverpool
Up until a few weeks ago, Liverpool and Manchester City were almost neck and neck at the top of the Premier League. They had opened up a gap on the teams lying 3rd, 4th and 5th (Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal, though not necessarily in that order) and both City and Liverpool were unbeaten.
However, City’s 2-0 defeat at Chelsea saw their unbeaten record 
shattered prior to Christmas and while a win over Everton followed, in the first of their four games over the festive period City were shocked at home by Crystal Palace who came through the game with a 3-2 victory.
Worse was to follow, as City then went to Leicester only to go down to a 2-1 defeat to the Foxes, who had served intention of being in great form by earning a 1-0 win at Chelsea a few days prior to the game.
In contrast, Liverpool kick started their Christmas with a very solid 3-1 win over Manchester United, followed by a 2-0 win away to Wolves, which combined With City’s defeat saw them extend their lead at the top. Then when City were losing to Leicester, Liverpool handed Newcastle a 4-0 thumping to extend that lead, with City dropping down to third in the table behind Spurs.
Spurs 3-1 home defeat to Wolves was followed by Liverpool thumping fifth placed Arsenal 5-1 at Anfield, leaving Manchester City ten points behind the Reds as they headed to the south coast to take on Southampton on Sunday. If City can win, then they will cut that gap to seven points ahead of Thursday night’s game at the Etihad.
Manchester City’s form since December 1st
- V Bournemouth (H) – W 3-1
- V Watford (A) – W 2-1
- V Chelsea (A) – L 0-2
- Champs Lge V Hoffenheim (H) – W 2-1
- V Everton (H) – W 3-1
- Carabao Cup V Leicester City (A) – D 1-1 (W 3-1 on penalties)
- V Crystal Palace (H) – L 2-3
- V Leicester City (A) – L 1-2
- V Southampton (A) –
Played 9 – Won – 4, Drew 1, Lost 3 – Goals Scored – 14, Goals Conceded – 12
Liverpool form since December 1st
- V Everton (H) – W 1-0
- V Burnley (A) – W 3-1
- V Bournemouth (A) – W 4-0
- Champs Lge V Napoli (H) – W 1-0
- V Manchester United (H) – W 3-1
- V Wolves (A) – W 2-0
- V Newcastle (H) – W 4-0
- V Arsenal (H) – W 5-1
Played 7 – Won 7, Drew 0, Lost 0 – Goals Scored – 23, Goals Conceded – 3
Probable Teams
Manchester City (4-3-3)
- Ederson – Gk
- Walker – Dr
- Zinchenko – Dl
- Kompany – Dc
- Laporte – Dc
- Silva – Mc
- Fernandinho – Mc
- Silva – Mc
- Sterling – Amr
- Sane – Aml
- Aguero – Ac
With injury worries over Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan, Fernandinho’s return to fitness is timely as is David Silva and both should start. I am expecting Sane and Sterling to provide pace in the wide areas, with Mahrez dropping out of the side, while Kompany may well play again in place of John Stones, although I would expect Walker to come into the side in place of Danilo.
Liverpool (4-3-3)
- Alisson – Gk
- Alexander Arnold – Dr
- Robertson – Dl
- Van Dijk – Dc
- Lovren – Dc
- Henderson – Mc
- Wijnaldum – Mc
- Milner – Mc
- Mane – Aml
- Salah – Amr
- Firmino – Ac
I expect Jurgen Klopp to alter his midfield once again for this game with a more defensive outlook likely involving Milner, Henderson and Wijnaldum. That means that Fabinho and Shaqiri would drop to the bench with the big Brazilian midfielder a possible to start should Milner not make it back in time from injury.
Manchester City v Liverpool – Tips
Full Time Result – Draw
This is a huge game in the context of the Premier League and the onus is most definitely more on Manchester City than Liverpool to get a positive result. City will know that a win is a must here for them, but that was also the case when the teams met in the Champions League quarterfinals earlier in 2018 and on that occasion, Liverpool hit City on the counter to earn a 2-1 victory and a comfortable 5-1 win on aggregate to reach the semifinals. I can see something similar happening again as while I can see both teams finding the net, I am not sure either will do enough to claim the win and as such, I think a draw is the most likely outcome.
Correct Score – Manchester City 1-1 Liverpool – 7/1
Having stated that we feel that this game will be another draw between the teams I feel that the most likely scoreline is a 1-1 score. Both sides are stronger defensively this season than last but I also feel that both are likely to concede a goal in this game. The game between the teams at Anfield was surprisingly tight but I think City won’t have that alternative available to them as a draw here isn’t particularly of use to them. As such, I feel that does offer Liverpool a better hope of a goal on the counter and hence 1-1 seems to me to be the best bet.
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