Manchester City v Liverpool predictions: Trophy defence set to end at the Etihad

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Manchester City v Liverpool in the EFL fourth round on Thursday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event/Football, 8pm Thursday

Best bet

Manchester City
1pt 20-21 BoyleSports

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Team news

Manchester City
World Cup finalist Julian Alvarez is not available but none of City's other World Cup participants were involved beyond the quarter-final stage.

Liverpool
Ibrahima Konate will be given some time to recover from France's World Cup final defeat and Luis Diaz (knee), Arthur (thigh), and Diogo Jota (calf) remain sidelined. Jurgen Klopp has indicated that Virgil Van Dijk will be rested.

Match preview

Manchester City have had over a month to stew over a 2-1 loss at home to Brentford in their last match before the World Cup break but they can put it behind them by defeating Liverpool in the EFL Cup fourth round.

Both teams might have preferred to avoid each other because the game comes less than a week before the Premier League resumption and is sure to carry an extra competitive edge due to the emotions involved.

City and Liverpool are separated by ten points in the Premier League, but their intense rivalry shows no sign of calming down and seemed to reach new heights in the fiery October Premier League encounter which Liverpool edged 1-0 with Mohamed Salah's 76th-minute goal.

Liverpool also got the better of City in the Community Shield, winning 3-1, and are five matches unbeaten in the fixture since Guardiola's men registered a 4-1 league victory at Anfield in February 2021.

City's poor recent record against Liverpool is unlikely to be at the forefront of Guardiola's mind but it may nudge him towards selecting as slightly stronger starting line up than might have been the case had the Citizens faced different opposition.

Guardiola never likes to take risks with player fitness but his training ranks have been bolstered by several returning World Cup players, including Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan, who started Saturday's 2-0 friendly success at home to Girona.

De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were City's weekend goalscorers and their likely presence in the starting line up poses a major threat to Liverpool, who are set to start with a below-strength central defence.

Virgil Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate are expected to be eased back gradually after their World Cup exertions and a heavy responsibility is likely to fall on the shoulders of Joel Matip, who returned from an injury layoff just before the World Cup break to make the bench for Liverpool's 3-1 success at home to Southampton.

Offensively, Liverpool continue to be hampered by the absences of injured pair Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota, although Salah and Roberto Firmino were not at the World Cup and Darwin Nunez has been back in training for a while following Uruguay's group-stage exit.

The trio started the November Premier League wins away to Tottenham (2-1) and at home to Southampton and are likely to be involved again.

There should be plenty of senior players on show for both teams and, while a close game is in store, a moment of individual quality could settle the issue.

City have two obvious match-winners in the shape of De Bruyne and Haaland and, if either has a major influence, it may be enough to send the the Citizens into the final eight.