Liverpool were crowned Premier League champions with Manchester City’s loss to Chelsea on matchday 31. Now, the Reds head to the Etihad Stadium to face off with Manchester City in a top two Premier League clash.
Manchester City and Liverpool are the premier teams in English football and it will take some time for the rest of the division to catch up. The other 18 clubs are some way away from reaching the heights of both Manchester City and Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp’s team will want to cap off their title win by beating their biggest rival over the course of the season. Liverpool defeated Manchester City 3-1 in their first match at Anfield with goals from Fabinho, Mohamed Salah, and Sadio Mane.
Liverpool’s three goals came before Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva pulled a goal back in the 78th minute. Pep Guardiola’s side struggled to keep up with Liverpool’s pressure in the first match and with the way in which Chelsea exploited defensive weaknesses; Liverpool could win again.
Guardiola’s team progressed to the FA Cup semifinals on Sunday with an easy win against Newcastle United. Liverpool had the weekend off and players will be fresher for the fixture.
Manchester City are without top scorer Sergio Aguero after he underwent surgery during the Premier League break. Although Manchester City have been able to score goals, the ruthlessness of Aguero has not been replaced.
Liverpool have dropped points in recent away fixtures and collected just one point of the last six available. Manchester City have lost twice at home this season which was very much unlike the team seen in recent title winning campaigns.
Against Chelsea, Manchester City’s defensive weaknesses were very apparent. Both goals came from poor centre-back defending allowing pacey players to get the best of them.
Along with Aguero, Guardiola will be without centre-backs Eric Garcia and Fernandinho. The latter is suspended after denying a clear goal against Chelsea with his hand.
Klopp has no new injury problems as Xherdan Shaqiri, Nathaniel Clyne, and James Milner are out long-term. Centre-back Joel Matip could be back in the team after suffering a nasty knock against Everton when Richarlison stepped on him.
Thursday night’s match will be the third of the season between Manchester City and Liverpool. They met in the FA Community Shield finishing 1-1 with Manchester City claiming the trophy on penalties. The Reds won their league meeting 3-1.
Games between the clubs tend to be high scoring and seven of the last 10 fixtures in all competitions saw over 2.5 goals scored. Seven of the last 10 matches in all competitions also finished with both teams scoring.
Thursday night’s match should finish with over 2.5 goals, both teams scoring, and the champions (Liverpool) coming out with a win.