The final two English champions are separated by a massive 17-point gap in the top-flight rankings, but the faltering holders are finally going back to typing at home, at least in a domestic sense. Pep Guardiola and Manchester City face Arne Slot's Liverpool in Sunday's titanic match at the Etihad, and they have the ability to give his former right-hand man Mikel Arteta a significant boost in the Premier League title race.
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With the exception of the most incredible Premier League championship comeback the nation has ever seen, the five-peat dream may be in ruins, but Man City may at least attempt to defeat Liverpool along the way, improving their chances of earning a traditional Champions League berth.
To reach Europe's elite competition City must place inside the top four positions of the Premier League after Real Madrid defeated their rivals 6-3 on aggregate in the latest encounter of their long fought war through Kylian Mbappe's spectacular second-leg hat-trick.
Guardiola's team now faces competition only in the Premier League and FA Cup runs as well as Club World Cup this summer because their premature Champions League elimination.
Omar Marmoush earned himself a match ball after Newcastle United suffered a 4-0 defeat last weekend thus helping Manchester City maintain their position in fourth place before gameweek 26 begins.
The Citizens successfully defend their home territory in their previous three Premier League matchdays against opponents because their goal conversion hits 24.7% while other teams reach a minimum of 9.6%.
The champions seem to be seizing their opportunity against the other teams due to Liverpool's recent inconsistent form during the last four matches this season.
The Reds managed to avoid defeat over Wolverhampton Wanderers with a 2-1 win yet this result fell short of being decisive while their midweek clash at Aston Villa ended in a 2-2 stalemate because of Trent Alexander-Arnold's fortunate deflection.
Arsenal, who come to the Etihad with just one win from their past four games in all competitions, will only be five points behind Liverpool on the same amount of games before Slot's team plays Man City if they defeat London rivals West Ham United as predicted.
The league leaders have also only won two of their last eight away games in all competitions and none of their last three. However, the record alone does not fully reflect the situation, as Slot's team has scored in all 14 of their Premier League away games thus far and has yet to lose one in 2024–25.
After Liverpool's 2-1 victory over Wolves at Anfield last week, one could argue that they should have had three straight draws. The Reds faced 10 after failing to try a single shot in the second half of the match. This was the first time they had ever played an entire half of Premier League football without attempting a shot, dating back to 2003–04.
Only four Premier League games this season have seen Liverpool have less shots than their opponents, and two of those games have occurred in their previous three games (10-16 against Wolves, 6-10 against Everton).
