Man City need a statement win over Liverpool to boost title hopes

Premier League football returns this weekend after the international break as Manchester City welcome Liverpool to the Etihad Stadium in Saturday’s 12.30pm kick-off. The Citizens will hope they don’t suffer any hangover from the hiatus and can hit the ground running as they look to close the gap on leaders Arsenal.

Pep Guardiola’s side are a victim of their own success this season as they are still competing in three competitions. They breezed into the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a thumping 8-1 aggregate win over RB Leipzig and they have a two-legged semi final tie against Bayern Munich to look forward to. City also eased into the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a resounding 6-0 victory over Burnley two weeks ago. However, the fixtures are pilling up and while they were in FA Cup action, Arsenal – who exited the cup in the early rounds – were able to extend their advantage at the top of the table with a comfortable 4-1 win over Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners now lead City by eight points, and while the defending champions hold a game in hand, they know that points on the board are what’s important at this stage of the season. The Citizens will therefore be desperate to close the gap to five points with a win over Liverpool on Saturday to at least put some pressure on Arsenal ahead of their clash with Leeds in North London later in the day.

The international break probably came at the wrong time for City as they were in excellent form – winning all of their last six matches in all competitions, scoring 23 goals in the process. Guardiola will be praying the break hasn’t hampered their momentum and they can pick up where they left off with a win over Liverpool. If City fail to win this weekend and Arsenal beat Leeds at home, the gap will be a huge 10 points. Even with a game in hand, that would be a large lead for the Gunners with just 9-10 games remaining of the season.

Rusty

Liverpool head to the Etihad having not played since March 15th – when they were beaten by Real Madrid in the Champions League – and they’ve played just four matches this month, so there is a concern the Reds could be rusty. Jurgen Klopp’s men have endured a disappointing season but they are still in with a chance of finishing in the top four.

It looked like they were back to their best after thrashing Manchester United 7-0 on March 5th, but they followed that up with defeat away to Bournemouth the following week. That defeat has left them sitting sixth in the table, seven points behind fourth placed Tottenham with two games in hand, so they can put themselves right back in the mix for Champions League qualification with a win over City.

The Reds are one of the best supported teams in Europe and it’s always difficult to get hold of Liverpool tickets, but it will be virtually impossible to buy an away ticket for this fixture as they sold out weeks ago. The Anfield faithful have always stuck by Klopp and his squad, despite their poor form at times this season, so they’ll be cheering Liverpool on to get a positive result once again this weekend.

Haaland concern

Manchester City have a major injury concern to worry about as Erling Haaland is a doubt for the game on Saturday. The striker was sent home early from international duty with Norway due to a groin injury and missed their fixtures with Spain and Georgia. Haaland wasn’t seen at training on Thursday and while Guardiola will do everything to have his 39-goal striker available, it remains to be seen whether he’ll feature against Liverpool.

Phil Foden is certain to miss out this weekend after pulling out of the England squad due to appendicitis. He underwent surgery earlier this week and is set to miss a number of weeks.

Guardiola is likely to make some changes from the side that beat Burnley last time out with Ederson, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, Jack Grealish and Ilkay Gundogan all pushing for recalls.

As for Liverpool, they could be set for a major boost with Luis Diaz back in contention. The winger has been out for several months with a knee injury but has built up his fitness over the international break after returning to training and could be back in the squad this weekend.

Darwin Nunez is also expected to be passed fit despite picking up a foot problem while Kostas Tsimikas will be given a late fitness test on a chest issue. However, Joe Gomez is a major doubt while Thiago Alcantara is also expected to be ruled out with a groin problem that’s hampered him this month. Stefan Bajcetic has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a muscle injury.

Line-ups

Guardiola will recall Ederson to start in goal while Stones could return to partner Ruben Dias in defence. Ake could get the nod at left-back with Kyle Walker keeping his place at right-back. Rodri will anchor the midfield with Gundogan and Kevin De Bryne offering support. Bernardo Silva and Grealish could get the nod on the wings while Alvarez will deputise up front if Haaland is ruled out.

Alisson Becker is certain to start between the sticks for Liverpool while Trent Alexander-Arnold will occupy the right-back spot. Andrew Robertson will be at left-back while Ibrahima Konate will partner Virgil van Dijk in the middle of defence. Fabinho should be joined by Jordan Henderson and Harvey Elliott in midfield while Mohamed Salah will keep his place on the right flank. Cody Gakpo should start as Dias is unlikely to be fit to start and Nunez could lead the line up front ahead of Roberto Firmino and Diego Jota.

Man City: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Ake; De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan; Bernardo, Alvarez, Grealish

Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Elliott; Salah, Gakpo, Nunez

Prediction

Despite Liverpool’s inconsistent form this season, this is still a huge game. City desperately need a win to close the gap at the top of the table while a positive result would be a big boost for Liverpool in their hopes of finishing in the top four so it will be fascinating to see how it pans out.

Losing Haaland would be a huge blow for City and would give Liverpool added hope, but even without the prolific Norwegian City are still a formidable side. We think they’ll be too strong in the end of the Reds and will edge a closely fought game 2-1. Man City 2-1 Liverpool