Manchester City vs Liverpool

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The Premier League resumes after the international break this Saturday, kicking off with an intense clash between long-standing rivals Manchester City and Liverpool, both vying for the top spot. These giants, separated by just a single point after 12 games, are set to deliver a thrilling contest.

City and Liverpool, the dominant forces with six recent Premier League titles between them, alongside five UEFA Champions League finals in the past six years, hold a fierce history. Over a decade of competition between managers Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp, spanning Germany and England, has continually pushed them to greater heights. Their encounters, numbering 28 matches, surpass any other manager rivalry in their careers.

Klopp holds 11 victories against Guardiola, the most any manager has achieved against the City boss, while Guardiola has secured 10 wins over Klopp, also a record against the Liverpool manager.

Guardiola, with almost two weeks to analyze their recent 4-4 draw against Chelsea, acknowledges the need for improvement after a thrilling yet erratic performance. Despite City taking the lead three times in that match, defensive lapses led to conceding four goals, a concern for Guardiola. The team faces potential absences with injuries to John Stones and Nathan Aké, while goalkeeper Ederson, despite withdrawing from Brazil's squad, is expected to play.

Furthermore, there are fitness concerns in attack as Erling Haaland suffered an ankle injury, jeopardizing his availability for the upcoming clash. City hopes he'll recover as he nears Andy Cole's record for the fewest games needed to reach 50 Premier League goals. Interestingly, Haaland has yet to score against Liverpool in the Premier League, the only other team besides Brentford where he's yet to find the net.

Liverpool enters this fixture in second place, buoyed by a convincing 3-0 win against Brentford on Matchday 12, maintaining an unbeaten streak at Anfield across all competitions in the current season.

Following Klopp to England in 2016, Man City and Liverpool have virtually evenly divided the results of their meetings. Under Guardiola, City has defeated the Reds five times in the Premier League, drawn five times, and lost four.

However, Liverpool has had difficulty visiting the Etihad Stadium, having only triumphed once in their previous 14 league away games versus City (D5 L8). On Klopp's first visit there in November 2015, they won 4-1.

In their most recent encounter, which took place on this field in April, City defeated Liverpool 4-1 to take a significant stride toward retaining the title. Goals came from Julián Álvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, İlkay Gündoğan, and Jack Grealish after Salah had put Liverpool ahead.

It would be the first time Manchester City has defeated Liverpool in league play in a row since their four-game winning streak from 1935 to 1937.

Over the course of their four head-to-head meetings in 2022–2023, the teams split their two victories. Liverpool defeated City 3-1 in the FA Community Shield last July and went on to win 1-0 at Anfield in the Premier League in October. Meanwhile, City prevailed 3-2 in an exciting EFL Cup match in December.

With 23 victories in a row at home in all competitions, City hopes to make history on Saturday.

They would tie the record set by an English premier league team if they were to win one more game. From December 1890 to April 1892, Sunderland won 24 games in a row, including an FA Cup triumph over Notts County that was replayed.

Liverpool, on the other hand, has only dropped one of their previous 23 league games (W15 D7), losing 2-1 to Tottenham in September despite being reduced to nine men.

But after that contentious loss, the Reds have lost their last three away games in the Premier League, with draws against Brighton and Hove Albion (2-2) and Luton Town (1-1). Additionally, Klopp's group has not kept a clean sheet in seven away Premier League games, dating back to the previous campaign.

This marks the fourth encounter between City and Liverpool as the top two teams in the Premier League. Only three match-ups have occurred more frequently with teams holding the top two positions: Arsenal, Chelsea, and City have faced Manchester United six times in similar scenarios.

In the recent game against Brentford, Mohamed Salah scored twice, while Diogo Jota also found the net. Salah's 10 goals in the current campaign trail only behind Haaland's 13, and he's closing in on his 200th goal for Liverpool across all competitions, standing two goals shy. He's poised to join the ranks of Ian Rush, Roger Hunt, Gordon Hodgson, and Billy Liddell in reaching this milestone.

Salah boasts an impressive record against City, having scored 11 goals against teams managed by Guardiola, the most by any player. His partnership with Darwin Núñez has been outstanding, leading to 19 chances created and five assists between them, the highest for any pair in the Premier League this season. Notably, all nine of Núñez's assists since last season have been for Salah.

Núñez faces competition for a starting position from the fit-again Cody Gakpo and Luis Díaz, who shone with a brace in Colombia's recent win against Brazil. Dominik Szoboszlai has also made a mark since joining from RB Leipzig, creating 28 chances in the Premier League, trailing only Kieran Trippier, Bruno Fernandes, and James Maddison in this aspect.

Alexis Mac Allister is set to return to Liverpool's lineup after a one-match suspension, while Ryan Gravenberch is likely fit following a minor knee injury. Gravenberch resumed training alongside Curtis Jones, Ibrahima Konaté, and Joe Gomez. Despite the return of the latter two, Joël Matip, in good form, might retain his place alongside Virgil van Dijk in central defense. Kostas Tsimikas is expected to start at left-back, while Trent Alexander-Arnold remains a reliable presence on the right side.

After choosing a different color of blue since the end of the 2021–22 season, Cole Palmer, Raheem Sterling, and Mateo Kovacic all rejoined their former employers at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago. Screenplays were already being written for one of the triumvirate to emerge as the hero in West London.

While Palmer's penalty kick in the fifth minute of second-half injury time to cap off an eight-goal fiesta plunged the dagger deeper into the hearts of the Citizens faithful, Sterling did haunt his old team with Chelsea's second goal of the game.

Guardiola's team lost their five-game winning streak in that captivating 4–4 draw, even though they scored four goals through an Erling Haaland brace, a Manuel Akanji header, and a deflected Rodri strike. As a result, they went into the third break of the season only one point ahead of the leaders.

The Champions are leading both Liverpool and Arsenal, who could be overtaken by Tottenham Hotspur or Aston Villa based on the outcome of their exciting match on Sunday. However, scoring four goals at Stamford Bridge means that the Citizens have scored three goals or more in each of their previous five games.

Furthermore, since a 1-1 draw with Everton on New Year's Eve 2022, Man City has posted a sensational 15 wins from 15 top-flight home matches in 2023; their overall winning streak in front of the home crowd stands at 23 matches in all tournaments. As a result, no English team to visit the Etihad in the Premier League this year has emerged with their pride intact.

Man City has the opportunity to create English football history by matching Sunderland's historic record of 24 straight home victories, which was established between 1890 and 1892. This only makes a revitalized Liverpool even more motivated to make up for their recent mistakes in this match.

Liverpool, who lost out to Arsenal in the previous season for the best-of-the-rest title, will once again travel to the Etihad as Man City's main rivals for the title. Although they are only one goal ahead of the Gunners in goal differential, Liverpool's silver medal standing is largely due to Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota.

Alisson Becker would never have predicted a quiet afternoon against Brentford, but the Reds' defense held strong and saw Salah score a historic brace before Jota's exquisite curler finished the job in front of the Kop. Without his heroics in goal, it would not have been a Liverpool home win.