EPL Predictions: Manchester City vs Liverpool

Liverpool and Manchester City have been a battle between the two best teams in the division in recent Premier League seasons.

But that narrative might appear to be a pretence at the moment.

Liverpool have had their worst start to a Premier League season in the Jürgen Klopp era.

Can the Reds bounce back to their best when they welcome title rivals Manchester City at Anfield?

Liverpool and Manchester City have been the only genuine Premier League title contenders in the last five seasons. But the Merseyside outfit are already 13 points behind the Citizens. A defeat at Anfield on Sunday will extend that gap to 16 points.

Liverpool’s title credentials took another big hit last weekend as they returned from the Emirates emptyhanded.

Klopp will be pointing towards some controversial refereeing calls, but for most of the game, Liverpool were the second-best team in their 3-2 defeat to Arsenal.

The midweek Champions League tie against Rangers did restore some confidence in the Liverpool camp ahead of their crunch clash against Man City.

The Reds condemned their Scottish opponents to a 7-1 defeat. Mohamed Salah scoring a record-shattering 6 mins 12 seconds hat-trick after coming off the bench would have been the most assuring sight for Liverpool fans.

The Egyptian forward had not been in his usual prolific form this season. So, taking the matchball home on Wednesday night should make him more hopeful of finding the net against City.

Even though Manchester City have been scoring goals for fun in the Premier League, they did not have a good day in front of the opposition goal in their Champions League trip to Copanhagen on Tuesday night.

Pep Guardiola did not use Erling Haaland, but he will disappointed not to take all three points from the Danish capital. Rodri did find the back of the net, but Riyad Mahrez’s handball in the buildup disallowed the goal.

City had to play two-thirds of the match with a match down as Sergio Gómez was sent off in the half hour mark.

The visitors still tried to unlock the Copanhagen defence but a fantastic performance from the home side goalkeeper Kamil Grabara forced the Citizens to settle for a draw.

But Manchester City will have zero lack of faith in their scoring abilities when they travel to Anfield.

They had effortlessly won 4-0 against Southampton in their last Premier League match.

Liverpool will present a much stronger challenge at a venue where success has been few and far between for Man City. But, City will try to exploit Liverpool’s defensive frailties with their in-form attack led by Premier League Golden Boot race frontrunner Erling Haaland.

Injury updates

Liverpool already had an injury-ridden medical room before the Arsenal game. Now, Luis Díaz, Joël Matip, and Trent-Alexander Arnold have joined the list.

Ibrahima Konaté is expected to play alongside Virgil Van-Dijk in the center-back pairing. Joe Gomez will occupy the right-flank to replace Trent-Alexander Arnold.

Andy Robertson is fit to start, but it remains to be seen whether or not Klopp chooses him over Kostas Tsimikas at right back.

Manchester City also have severe injury issues as none of John Stones, Kyle Walker, and Kalvin Phillips are available for selection.

Aymeric Laporte will compete with Nathan Aké for partnering Rúben Dias at the heart of the Man City backline.

This is going to be an entertaining tie. We expect goals from both teams.

Even though Liverpool have been poor lately and they have severe injury problems, history suggests they might turn up to be an untamable force for Guardiola’s side. We are foreseeing a 2-2 draw in this one.