Manchester City v Liverpool predictions: Fresh Reds can strike first blow

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Manchester City v Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday.

Where to watch

BBC One, 3.30pm Saturday

Best bet

Liverpool to score the first goal
2pts 11-10 bet365

Team news

Manchester City
Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker are set to miss out after picking up injuries in Wednesday's Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid. Centre-back Ruben Dias is pushing for a first start since March 1.

Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp shuffled his pack for Wednesday's second leg against Benfica and has no fresh injury concerns.

Match preview

The engrossing rivalry between Manchester City and Liverpool resumes with Saturday's FA Cup semi-final at Wembley and bookmakers are anticipating another tight contest between the two best teams in Europe.

Champions City have a one-point lead over the Reds in the Premier League title race after the sides shared their second 2-2 draw of the season last weekend.

And it is just 4-7 that Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp go head to head in the Champions League final after the English teams came through this week's quarter-final ties in contrasting fashions.

A much-changed Liverpool 11 completed a 6-4 aggregate victory over Benfica at Anfield on Wednesday, having won the away leg 3-1, but City were made to work much harder on their trip to Atletico Madrid.

Defending a 1-0 lead against the Spanish champions, the Citizens stood firm to claim a goalless draw in Madrid but their bruising encounter with Atletico may leave them vulnerable in the early stages at Wembley.

Kevin De Bruyne, who scored the only goal of the tie against Atletico and opened the scoring in last weekend's draw with Liverpool, came off injured during the second half, along with experienced defender Kyle Walker, and Phil Foden was also on the receiving end of some rough treatment from the home side.

Liverpool, in contrast, had a less demanding build-up to the FA Cup semi-final as they bid to keep alive their hopes of an unprecedented quadruple this season.

The Reds won an epic penalty shootout against Chelsea in the EFL Cup final and have already gone further in the FA Cup than they have managed in six previous attempts under Klopp.

The German's chances of reaching his first FA Cup final should be boosted by the relative freshness of some of his key personnel as Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold were unused substitutes in the 3-3 draw with Benfica at Anfield.

Star forwards Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane came off the bench in the second half but should feature from the start at Wembley and Liverpool are worth backing to score the first goal of the semi-final.

The Reds have flown out of the traps in recent games, opening the scoring in six of their last seven matches in all competitions.

The exception was at the Etihad Stadium last Sunday, when De Bruyne gave City a fifth-minute lead but Diogo Jota equalised just eight minutes later.

Walker's injury is likely to mean a rare start for Nathan Ake as Ruben Dias is still working his way back to full fitness and Liverpool, who led twice in October's 2-2 draw at Anfield, can take advantage of any uncertainty in the City backline.

Key stat

Five of the last six meetings between these teams have produced four goals or more.

Inside info

Manchester City

Penalty taker Riyad Mahrez/Raheem Sterling
Free-kick wizard Riyad Mahrez
Set-piece aerial threat John Stones
Card magnet Aymeric Laporte

Liverpool

Penalty taker Mohamed Salah
Free-kick wizard Trent Alexander-Arnold
Set-piece aerial threat Virgil van Dijk
Card magnet Fabinho

Not got a bet365 account? Bet £10 & get £50 in free bets

Open account offer. Minimum deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as bet credits and are available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. Minimum odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude bet credits stake. Time limits/T&Cs apply. 18+ begambleaware.org

CLAIM OFFER HERE

MORE FREE BETS

Sign up to emails from Racing Post Sport and get all the latest news and tips

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport