England Premier League
Sunday 7th February 2021
Kick off at 4:30pm GMT
Venue: Anfield
Match Preview:
The biggest game in England at least for the past couple of years will take place on Sunday. It’s the champions against the 2019 champions and the current leaders and it should be a great game if not fascinating to watch as the two sides clash.
For Liverpool it’s been an odd period, which has seen the club lose 2 home successive matches against Burnley and Brighton- two teams with no disrespect to either that everyone was surprised to see the Reds lose too. It makes this match almost daunting for Jurgen Klopp’s team.
As a result back to back league titles look difficult for Liverpool who are in 4th place with 40 points, seven behind City who have a game in hand. Recent form would see the Reds down in 9th place but what is more telling is that they have earned just 15 points from their last 30. On average from the past 2 years this has been closer to 25.
Manchester City have won 9 straight games and look dangerous. They are the only team in the league showing this consistency. Even though the club are only 3 points in front of 2nd placed Manchester United they have that game in hand. Of course lose this match and the league would look open again for United so there is a lot to play for. On the other hand it only takes a slip from United to open up the season for City.
Away from home Manchester City have won their last 4 and have only lost once which was against Tottenham. They have only conceded six goals on the road which is the best defensive record in the league. City’s last away game ended in a 2-0 victory over Burnley and they have only conceded 1 goal in their last five away games.
Team News:
Liverpool: Alisson was ill and was ruled out of the Brighton game but he has recovered and should be fine for this match. Fabinho has a chance and will be assessed. Sadio Mane should be fine after a minor muscle injury. Joseph Gomez and Virgil van Dijk are out long term.
Manchester City: Sergio Aguero had Covid-19 but has been out for almost a month with an update suggesting that the player won’t be back for another two weeks at least. Nathan Ake could miss this game for unknown reasons and has been out for several weeks. Kevin De Bruyne is not expected back for 2 weeks due to his hamstring.
Liverpool vs Man City Head to Head:
Last season Liverpool won this fixture 3-1.
Earlier in the season in the reverse fixture the game finished 1-1.
Manchester City haven’t won at Anfield in the league since 2003.
There is a 60% chance to see over 2.5 goals.
Liverpool vs Man City Prediction:
Jurgen Klopp needs his main strikers the trio of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane to rewind 12 months and show the league what they can do. To Salah’s credit anyway he showed moments of this in the clubs games in London recently. But you have to wonder what has happened to Liverpool? Klopp calls it mental fatigue and yet they scored 6 goals past Tottenham and West Ham in between losing two home matches.
Liverpool remain a dangerous team and they come into this game having what can be called as a makeshift defence. It feels so unnatural to see Jordan Henderson as a defender. And yet Manchester City are winning the league in some ways without an out and out striker but they have so much quality that many observers are tipping them to win this game without the likes of Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne. That’s called depth. In defence they have Joan Cancelo and Ruben Dias who one would feel will be able to handle the Liverpool front three on their current form.
City have an awful record at Anfield in the league but no one can deny that they come into this game looking like the champions-elect. A draw would feel like a small victory for Liverpool, that’s how far they have fallen. Make no mistake a vintage Liverpool display can win the game at the weekend, but many will be backing the away team to get at least a draw from this encounter.
Liverpool vs Man City Betting Tips:
Asian handicap (0.0 Manchester City) at 1.525
Over 2.5 total goals at 1.72
Both teams to score at 1.61
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