Giant meeting at Anfield Road

It is undoubtedly the highlight of this international soccer weekend! Sunday afternoon sees a clash of the giants at Anfield Road: Liverpool vs Manchester City. The prediction of the outcome of the match is primarily influenced by the extremely exciting starting position in the race for the English championship. The Reds currently have a one-point lead over the second-placed Citizens in the standings. This direct duel, which features a number of superlatives, is therefore of immense and, above all, trend-setting importance for the rest of the season

In addition, the likelihood that two of the greatest and best coaches of this generation will meet for the last time (for now) is not at all remote. Jürgen Klopp is known to be on a farewell tour of the island and will certainly miss the regular encounters with Pep Guardiola. Despite the extremely respectful and at times even friendly interaction between the coaches, things are set to get heated at the weekend. The bookmakers even have the reigning champions and Champions League winners as favorites at the moment. In the following paragraphs, you can find out why this is explicitly the case and which arguments the bookmakers have primarily used in their odds distribution:

Liverpool – Statistics & current form

After 27 completed matchdays, Liverpool Football Club is still the measure of all things in the English Premier League. If the prediction of a home win for the Reds on Sunday between Liverpool and Manchester City pays off, they would already be four points clear of their upcoming opponents and would have further extended their pole position in the battle for the championship trophy. The second league title under Jürgen Klopp beckons. Compared to the FA Cup or the Europa League, the final sprint in the world’s strongest national soccer league definitely has priority.

It is fortunate for those who perform as impressively as LFC in the other competitions – despite their lower status. On Thursday evening, for example, Klopp’s team won the away game in the Europa League round of 16 first leg at Sparta Prague 5:1 and therefore has more than one and a half legs in the last eight. Admittedly, Liverpool could also have conceded four goals. Nevertheless, at the moment it feels as if the Scousers are running themselves. Liverpool have won all of their last seven competitive matches. In the Premier League, they have won eight of their last ten matches

Can Liverpool finally beat a big one?

However, the two points they dropped came against championship rivals Arsenal (1:3, 1:1). Incidentally, this is no coincidence, but rather a pattern that has crept in with the men from the Beatles’ city, as the Reds were also unable to win the first leg against Manchester City (1:1), the tough match against Manchester United (0:0) or the encounter against Tottenham (1:2). It is not surprising that we conclude a certain weakness against the absolute top teams in the league based on these results.

Although other statistics suggest that the pendulum will swing in LFC’s favor on Sunday, the tight personnel situation should not be underestimated. Trent Alexander-Arnold, a very important player, is missing through injury. Regular keeper Alisson Becker has to miss out, as do Jota, Gravenberch and Jones. In addition, Mohamed Salah only returned to training during the week and is probably not yet an option from the start.

This is annoying because the Egyptian, whose departure to the desert in the summer seems to be a done deal, can be described as a real City expert with 17 goals in 19 competitive games against the Sky Blues. No other player has scored more goals in his career against a team coached by Pep Guardiola than Salah (11). However, we do not have the nimble right winger on our radar as a potential goalscorer for Sunday. This is in stark contrast to Darwin Nunez, who has scored in each of his last four competitive games for Klopp’s team. In the previous week, he scored LFC’s tenth stoppage-time goal in a 1-0 win at Nottingham (a record!)

Predicted Liverpool line-up:

Manchester City – Statistics & current form

Manchester City are currently in even better form than Liverpool Football Club. After showing a few weaknesses or lack of concentration in the last two months of last year, the defending champions have long since returned to their usual dominance. In the Premier League, this is reflected in the 28 points collected from the last ten games (9-1-0). With the exception of a 1-1 draw against Chelsea, in which the Sky Blues wasted chances and should have won by a large margin, all competitive matches in the 2024 calendar year have been victorious.

This is one of the reasons why we are not a fan of playing the odds on a home win between Liverpool and Manchester City on Sunday. For us, betting against the Citizens in impressive form is not an option. Especially in view of their recent away strength, as coach Pep Guardiola’s side have not only won their last nine away games in all competitions, but have also scored a total of 25 goals, an average of almost three goals per match

Will Man City overtake Liverpool in the standings?

Admittedly, it’s not just the offense that is currently causing a stir and delivering game after game, but also the defense. Looking back at the last ten PL games, only Newcastle United have been able to score twice against the reigning Champions League winners. The 3-2 win at the Magpies on New Year’s Day was also the only league game involving City since the beginning of December in which more than four goals were scored. Given the immense importance and mutual respect for each other, we would also be inclined to predict a lower-scoring game on Sunday.

Those who even believe in a dominant away performance by the Sky Blues at Anfield have the option of betting on the double result HT2/FT2. Bet365 offers a proud 3.60 for this, which sometimes invites you to use the Bet365 voucher code. Similarly high odds are on offer for Phil Foden to score, who has already been involved in 18 goals this season and has really blossomed in recent weeks. Foden has scored seven times in his last seven competitive games, including a brace last weekend against city rivals Manchester United (3:1).

Predicted Manchester City line-up:

Liverpool – Manchester City head-to-head comparison / H2H record

Manchester City haven’t really had much to play for at Anfield Road in recent years. The Reds have lost just one of their last 20 home games in the league (13-6-1). This confirms the impression in this pairing that the away games are a difficult place for the respective visitors. In fact, only two of the last 30 PL duels have been won by the away team. No other Premier League fixture has seen fewer away wins – in percentage terms – than Liverpool v City (6/53 – 11%). For the sake of completeness, however, it should be mentioned that LFC have only won one of their last eight PL games against the Sky Blues. The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw, with City setting the tone for long stretches.

Liverpool – Manchester City betting tip

During the week, Liverpool FC and Manchester City were in action in the European Cup. While the Sky Blues took it easy in the second leg of the round of 16 tie against FC Copenhagen and were able to rest many players, the Reds still had to put some traveling behind them on Thursday evening. The clear 5:1 victory at Sparta Prague should not hide the fact that Klopp was not satisfied and that his team could easily have conceded four or five goals.

Although we now expect a completely different face from the leaders on Sunday, we would stay away from the betting odds on a home win in the run-up to the top match between Liverpool and Manchester City. The Citizens are probably in an even better mood than the “Scousers” at the moment and also have all their key players fit on board. What’s more, Liverpool have struggled in matches against the league’s top teams so far this season compared to the visitors, whose dominant style of play means they can claim to control every encounter.

In our eyes, the chances are pretty good that Guardiola’s team will return from Anfield with at least a point. We therefore try to bet on the X2 & Under 4.5 between Liverpool and Manchester City, for which Oddset is offering very attractive odds of 1.78.