Liverpool v Man City predictions: Fired-up Reds can share the spoils

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Liverpool v Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Premier League, 4.30pm Sunday

Best bet

Draw
1pt 16-5 Betfred

Team news

Liverpool
Luis Diaz, Joel Matip, Arthur, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Trent Alexander-Arnold are injured while Ibrahima Konate and Curtis Jones are doubts.

Manchester City
John Stones, Kalvin Phillips and Kyle Walker remain unavailable.

Match preview

"Nobody can compete with City," claimed Jurgen Klopp on Friday, but Liverpool have been the only club to offer serious competition to Manchester City in recent seasons and they can pick up a morale-boosting point when taking on the champions at Anfield.

City are off to a typically fast start in the Premier League and are 13 points clear of Liverpool, who have mustered just two victories from eight games.

The markets expect the gap to increase with City odds-on to secure the spoils, but there are reasons to think twice before lumping on Pep Guardiola's side.

City have drawn three of their six away matches this season and they have a poor record at Anfield, where they have won just once on their last 21 visits.

A lot of City's players will have fond memories of the 4-1 victory achieved on Merseyside in February 2021 but it was a strange occasion with no fans in the stadium.

This time they will be faced by a wall of noise and it is quite possible that they could be affected by the occasion.

City's only comparable experience this season came at Newcastle when they were harried out of their stride and had to come from 3-1 down to snatch a 3-3 draw.

Newcastle are the only Premier League team this season to have favoured a front-foot approach against City and, while they rode their luck at times, there were worthy of the result.

Liverpool are likely to play in a similar way but they will need to show greater energy than they could muster in last Sunday's 3-2 loss at Arsenal.

Jurgen Klopp's side put in a strong first-half performance against the Gunners and were unlucky to be 2-1 behind at the break.

But they were completely overrun after half-time and suffered a deserved defeat which was made more painful by injuries to Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz.

Liverpool needed a lift after their Emirates experience and they got it on Wednesday when they demolished Rangers 7-1 in Glasgow.

Their midweek mission was undoubtedly a step down in class but it will have done no harm to the confidence of the forward players. Mohamed Salah bagged a hat-trick, Roberto Firmino scored twice and Diogo Jota producing a hat-trick of assists.

Getting Salah back among the goals is a huge boost because he often excels against City and has scored in the last three Anfield encounters between the sides.

And if Salah can put his slow start to the season behind him, it may help Liverpool to look a little bit more like their old selves.

The Reds will need to play well because City have been playing with a swagger and the addition of Erling Haaland seems to have taken them to another level.

However, a City side featuring Haaland were beaten 3-1 by Liverpool in the Community Shield and they could be held by a fired-up Reds side on Sunday.

Key stat

Liverpool have drawn three of their last four Premier League meetings with Manchester City

Inside info

Liverpool

Penalty taker Mohamed Salah
Assist ace Mohamed Salah
Set-piece aerial threat Virgil van Dijk
Card magnet Fabinho

Manchester City

Penalty taker Erling Haaland
Assist ace Kevin De Bruyne
Set-piece aerial threat Ruben Dias
Card magnet Rodri

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