Liverpool vs Manchester City preview: Details, H2H, team news and predictions

A cracking, table-topping, title-deciding clash is set to hold at Anfield as Liverpool lock horns with Manchester City in Premier League matchday 28 on Sunday.

Both teams have been in prolific form lately, with an extensive streak of positive results. Both teams have won four of their last five Premier League matches with Liverpool’s only loss this year coming away to fellow title contenders, Arsenal. City on the other hand are on an extensive winning streak, with their only winless match coming in the 1:1 draw with Chelsea.

Both teams also recorded victories in their respective domestic and continental competitions with Liverpool making more headlines over their controversial win over Nottingham Forest.

A contentious drop-ball decision saw Darwin Nunez net a 99th-minute winner to secure their first-ever away win against the Tricky Trees. City on the other hand came back from an early Manchester United lead to to record an impressive 3-1 victory in a completely dominant fashion.

On the continental front, City extended their home unbeaten run in the Champions League with a victory over Cophenaghen on Wednesday.

Manuel Akanji scored with the Cityzens of the game, striking home Julian Alvarez’s corner in the fifth minute. Alvarez turned scorer this time with the second goal of the game to give City a four-goal cushion in the first ten minutes of the game before Cophenaghen’s forward, Mohamed Elyounoussi scored for the away side.

Erling Haaland restored City’s four-goal aggregate lead with a fine strike to end the first half. City eased a bit of pressure and ultimately secured qualification to the next round with a 6:2 aggregate win over the Danish Superliga Champions.

The victory over Byens hold meant City are yet to lose a Champions League game at the Etihad Stadium since 2018, while also setting a club record 22-match unbeaten streak in European competitions.

For Liverpool, they once again proved that stats really don’t matter in European competitions as they did not just give Sparta Prague their first defeat at the ebet Arena since August 2023, but also the first side to score multiple away goals against the Czech Republic Champions since September 2023.

Jurgen Klopp’s side completely dominated proceedings and took a deserved lead through Alexis Mac Alister’s penalty. A stunning brace from in-form striker, Darwin Nunez gave the Reds a 3:0 lead at halftime.

Sparta thought they had a chance of staging a comeback when Conor Bradley inadvertently put the ball into his net, only for a 53rd-minute strike from Luis Diaz to restore Liverpool’s three-goal lead.

Mohamed Salah marked his return from injury with a goal but was unfortunate to see his goal ruled out for offside. Dominik Szoboszlai made it 5:1 in stoppage time to put Liverpool in complete control ahead of the second-leg tie next week.

Attention now turns to the Premier League as all eyes will be on Anfield for the blockbuster clash with City.

The Reds have won their last two home matches against City and would be set to extend their 23-game unbeaten streak in all competitions this season.

In the last fixture between these two sides, a fine Trent Alexander-Arnold’s strike cancelled out Haaland’s opener as both sides played out a 1:1 draw at the Etihad Stadium.

This particular match-up would carry a much different intensity as it could decide the fate of the Premier League’s next champion at the end of the season.

Liverpool v Manchester City match details 

Date: Sunday 10 March 2024

Kick-off time: 15:45 GMT / 10:45 ET / 07:45 PT

Stadium: Anfield

Referee: Michael Oliver

Assistants: Stuart Burt, Dan Cook

Fourth official: David Coote

VAR: Stuart Attwell

Assistant VAR: Nick Hopton

Tickets: Supporters can buy Liverpool vs Manchester City tickets via trusted resellers or through the official club websites.

Match stats and head-to-head 

• Both sides have clashed 139 times in history with Liverpool holding the upper hand with 67 wins while City have won 33 times and 39 draws have also been recorded.

• In the Premier League era, they have played 53 times with Liverpool once again dominating with 21 wins while City have only won 12 times and 20 draws have been recorded between these two sides.

• Liverpool are undefeated in all 22 matches at Anfield Stadium this season, recording 20 wins and two draws across all competitions.

• City are unbeaten in the last three games against Liverpool, winning two and recording one draw

• Guardiola’s side have drawn four of their last six matches against the traditional ‘big six’ sides in the Premier League this season, with the draws coming against Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and twice against Chelsea

• Salah has scored more goals at home than any other player in the Premier League this season.

• Salah has an astronomical goalscoring record against teams in Manchester. The Egypt International has scored 23 goals in 33 matches against both Manchester teams scoring 12 against United and 11 against City.

• Salah is the first and only player to score more than 10 goals against a side managed by Guardiola.

• The Egyptian marksman also became the second player in history to score in four consecutive Premier League matches against City

• Liverpool’s captain, Virgil Van Dijk has lost only one of his 93 matches played at Anfield, keeping 46 clean sheets in the process. The centre-back has also won the most aerial duels in the Premier League so far this season

Team News

Salah marked his return from injury in the Europa League victory over Sparta and was unfortunate to see his goal ruled out. The Egyptian last featured for Liverpool in the 4-1 win over Brentford in February and has gone on to kiss four matches including the Carabao final victory over Chelsea.

Klopp would be delighted to have his starman back in the decisive game against City at Anfield.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ryan Gravenberch, Stefan Bajcetic, Thiago Alcantara, Diogo Jota, Alisson Becker and Curtis Jones are notable absentees who will be unavailable in the match.

For City, Jeremy Doku missed the victory over Cophenaghen over a muscular problem while Matheus Nunes who was given a starting berth in the Champions League game against Cophenaghen on Wednesday is doubtful for this clash after dislocating his finger from an awkward landing.

Jack Grealish remains a long-term absentee after missing City’s last two games with a groin injury

Predicted line-ups

Liverpool predicted starting lineup:

Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Endo, Elliott, Mac Allister; Gakpo, Nunez, Diaz

Manchester City predicted starting lineup:

Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Ake; Rodri, De Bruyne; Silva, Alvarez, Foden; Haaland

Prediction 

End-to-end affair, pound-for-pound contest, fireworks, intensity, duels, sweats, clashes, and an unending chant of support from fans are all to be expected in this match.

City enter this game with a much fitter squad marked by the returns of Kevin De Bruyne and Haaland while Liverpool still has Alexander-Arnold out. The Reds will however be boosted by the returns of Salah and would hope that the prolific form of Nunez would ensure their unbeaten streak at Anfield this season.

City should dominate this game but Liverpool should have enough firepower to manipulate City’s defensive high-line.