City’s Key Threats Ahead of Premier League Title Decider With Liverpool

Liverpool could take a huge step towards the Premier League title as they face Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday. A victory for Jurgen Klopp’s men could see them move four points clear at the top of the league, depending on Arsenal’s result against Brentford on Saturday evening.

However, Sunday’s clash is set to be Liverpool’s biggest test of the season with City eyeing a move to the top of the Premier League themselves. Everyone knows how brilliant Pep Guardiola’s side are, but today we’re going to be breaking it down and looking a bit deeper. With just eleven games to go, a positive result would be massive for the Reds.

Recent Form:

Although City haven’t been blowing teams away like they have in recent years, they have still managed to put together a tremendous run of form. The Citizens are currently on a 20-game unbeaten streak across all competitions, with their last defeat coming in a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa in December.

Since then, City have dropped points in just two games. Both of those came at the Etihad Stadium against Crystal Palace and Chelsea, but they’ve been flawless on the road since that defeat at Villa Park.

Guardiola’s men have won all of their last five games and have even scored 12 goals in their last three games.

Head-to-Head Record:

Since the arrival of Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, these two teams have formed one of the most competitive rivalries that England have ever seen. Since November 2015, the two sides have met on 24 occasions. Liverpool have come out victorious in ten of those meetings, whilst City have been triumphant on eight occasions.

The Reds have always fancied themselves at Anfield though, with Klopp’s side winning six of the nine meetings on Merseyside. City have only beaten Liverpool once at Anfield since Klopp’s arrival, but are yet to do it with fans in the ground.

Not many managers can say they seem to have Pep Guardiola’s number, but Jurgen Klopp definitely appears to be someone who does. After securing an impressive point at the Etihad earlier in the season, Liverpool will fancy themselves to take all three on Sunday.

Key Threats

Phil Foden

23-year-old forward Phil Foden has had a sensational season for Manchester City. His recent performances have even catapulted his name into the conversation of Premier League Player of the Year. His brace last week saw City overcome Manchester United in their first big challenge of the run-in.

In total, Foden has 11 goals and seven assists in the Premier League this season and has stepped up massively in the absence of the likes of Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish.

Erling Haaland

Despite missing a considerable amount of time due to injury, Haaland has already found his feet again and has been scoring goals for fun. The Norweigan has scored eight goals in his last five games, including five in a 6-2 thrashing of Luton Town in the FA Cup.

Haaland scored City’s goal in the 1-1 draw between the two sides earlier this season, but was pocketed in the home fixture last season. Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk were amazing that day and they’ll need to be at their very best once again on Sunday.

Kevin De Bruyne

The Belgian midfielder has also had his serious injury problems this season, but has been brilliant since his return to the City lineup. Ranking amongst the best midfielder the league has ever seen, it’s hard to deny De Bruyne’s incredible ability and the leadership that is starting to come along with it, too.

De Bruyne always puts in a good performance against Liverpool too, whether it be with a goal or an assist. He definitely has the capability to turn the game on its head in an instant and Wataru Endo and Alexis Mac Allister will have a tricky afternoon keeping him quiet.

Score Prediction

As strong as Manchester City are at the moment, I definitely think their back line can be got at. With the return of Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez, Liverpool will be backing themselves to score a couple of goals, especially with the help of the Anfield crowd.

On the other hand, with the impressive form of Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Caoimhin Kelleher, I think there’s a strong chance that City only grab one goal or even less. So by that logic, I’m going to lean towards a slim victory for Liverpool.

Liverpool 2-1 Manchester City