Manchester City vs Liverpool

Saturday’s Premier League action gets underway with a mouth-watering contest between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.

With eight points deficit and a game in hand on pacesetters Arsenal, every match is a ‘must-win’ for Manchester City from now on if they’re to win a third successive Premier League title for the first time in the club’s history. Pep Guardiola’s men hit a purple patch on the eve of March’s international break, stitching together three league wins by an aggregate score of 7-1, including a keenly-contested 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace last time out. But their title credentials will face a stern test this weekend as Liverpool come to town looking to complete their first top-flight double over Man City for the first time since 2015/16 following a narrow 1-0 triumph in the reverse fixture. That’s unlikely to discourage the ‘Citizens,’ who can fall back on an outrageous 13-game H2H league form on home turf (W7, D5, L1).

Unlike their hosts, Liverpool headed into the international window on the back of a disheartening 1-0 defeat at relegation-threatened Bournemouth, ending a decent-looking run of five Premier League outings without losing prior (W4, D1). Despite experiencing arguably their worst domestic campaign under Jurgen Klopp, the ‘Reds’ could still waltz away with a coveted top-four finish. Coming into this matchday, they trail fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur by seven points, but with two games in hand, another Champions League qualification is still an attainable target. However, the visitors must improve their wasteful form on the road after picking up a mere 12 points from 13 Premier League away matches this term, compared to 30 at Anfield. Indeed, Klopp’s lads have failed to get on the scoresheet on six league travels in 2022/23, compared to just one scoring blank at home.