Man City vs Liverpool Preview: Team News, Likely Line-ups & Predicted Score

Manchester City welcome Liverpool to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon looking to close the gap on league leaders Manchester United.

City head into the weekend trailing league leaders Manchester United by seven points after the Red Devils capatalised on City’s 0-0 draw with QPR on Tuesday by beating Southampton 2-1 at Old Trafford 24 hours later.

Liverpool will also be ruing a missed opportunity after blowing a 2-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Arsenal at the Emirates in midweek. The result leaves the Merseysiders in seventh place in the table but just seven points off fourth-placed Tottenham, so Brendan Rodgers wont have given up hope of qualifying for the champions league next season just yet.

Team News

Man City will of course be without the services of Mario Balotelli after the striker was sold to AC Milan on deadline day. Captain Vincent Kompany has been ruled out for three weeks with a calf problem and the champions are hopeful Matija Nastasic is fit enough to step in after recovering from a knee complaint.

Right-back Maicon has returned to training but won’t be considered for the weekends action while Micah Richards is a further month away from returning to fitness. Kolo and Yaya Toure are still on international duty with the Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations.

Liverpool boss Rodgers is expected to recall left-back Jose Enrique for the game with Glen Johnson reverting back to his more natural position on the right hand side of defence. New signing Philippe Coutinho is unlikely to feature after only securing his move to Anfield in midweek.

Likely Line-ups

Predicted Score

Man City have a ominous home record having won 36 and lost just one of their last 41 Premier League games at the Etihad Stadium. However, five of the last eight meetings between these two sides have ended in a draw and we can see another stalemate this weekend. Man City 1-1 Liverpool

What would your line-up be and what’s your score prediction? Get involved in the comments section below.