English Premier League: Manchester City vs. Liverpool Preview, Odds, Predictions

The Citizens need a victory over their biggest adversary in recent years, Liverpool, to keep themselves in the title hunt. The hosts are about to enter a crucial phase of the season, and much is at stake. Man City can’t afford to make any blunders now that they’re eight points behind Arsenal, even though this crew has a game in hand. Conversely, Liverpool must step up and try to qualify for the Champions League. The Reds are currently down by a large margin and really need to win this encounter.

Man City (-195) was even with Arsenal a few weeks ago, but the Gunners eventually pulled ahead by eight points as Guardiola and his team slowed down. That’s why the Citizens feel enormous pressure before Saturday’s spectacle, as three points present the imperative for the EPL champs.

The good news for the fans is their favorites’ strong run over the recent few weeks, with them winning six straight games and going ten games without a loss. Guardiola’s team hasn’t conceded a goal in the last five appearances, while Haaland and the group scored 13 in the previous 180 minutes.

City is undefeated in their last 11 home games, having won eight consecutive and netting 30 times throughout the interval.

There is no doubt anymore. Liverpool‘s (+450) decision to sell Sadio Mane has been their worst judgment over the past several years, and since the Senegalese left Anfield, this team has experienced massive problems. The chemistry is gone, the morale deteriorated, and overall, the team is on the downhill.

The biggest enemy of Jurgen Klopp’s crew has been inconsistency. The Reds can defeat any team in Europe, but on the other hand, they can lose against some lower-tier opponents without any problems. Remember, this crew beat Man United 7-0, then lost 1-0 to Bournemouth seven days later.

The Reds have lost two games in a row after their 1-0 loss to the Cherries; their most recent failure came in the Champions League against Real Madrid by the same score.

City has no trouble with injuries. Haaland is ready according to all the sources from within the team.

Liverpool has several players who are doubtful but should be available for this event, Nunez and Gakpo, while Alcantara and Diaz have bigger chances of skipping this event. Henderson is ready, while Stefan Bajcetic won’t be in the protocol.

Head to Head

Anfield was the site of this season’s inaugural EPL meeting, which Liverpool won, 1-0. Later these two teams squared off in the EFL Cup, with the final score 3-2 for City. The Reds prevailed in the Community Shield against City by a score of 3-1, and this was the first game of the year in all of England.

Eight of their latest ten contests saw over 2.5 goals, and also eight ended with both teams netting.

Prediction

Although City’s recent run is much better than Liverpool’s, we still wouldn’t put money on the Citizens to win this match. Instead, we’re betting on over 2.5 goals because of the tradition and the fact that Liverpool doesn’t know how to defend when playing against the teams that attack. And City will have to be offensive due to the current circumstances and the need for three points.

Pick: Over 2.5 goals -166