Man City vs Liverpool Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

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Haydn Cunningham Nov 16, 2015 @ 05:24 pm

Manuel Pellegrini was one of the most angered managers in Europe after the last international break after Sergio Aguero and David Silva picked up injuries which has kept them out of all Manchester City’s games until the recent stoppage for the internationals again. Pellegrini will have hoped the fortnight between their last game and the Liverpool fixture will give Aguero and the Silva the vital time they needed to rebuild their fitness. City were disappointing against Aston Villa last time out and they’ll be bitterly disappointed they allowed the likes of Leicester City and Manchester United to close the gap. They were the better side but lacked a cutting edge in the final 3^rd and couldn’t get past a stubborn Villa defence. Pellegrini will need to assess some of the French contingent in his squad with the likes of Gael Clichy, Elaquim Mangala and Bacary Sagna who will be feeling the effects of the devastating terrorist attacks that hit Paris on Friday the 13^th.

Jurgen Klopp welcomed a very untimely first defeat as Liverpool manager at home to Crystal Palace. It was disappointing for the ex-Borussia Dortmund boss as he would’ve thought his men had started to gain some momentum after important wins against Chelsea and Rubin Kazan which also put their Europa League prospects in a much better position. However, Klopp will look to use the confidence of travelling to Stamford Bridge and taking all 3 points by replicating that performance at another Premier League giant on Saturday evening. Liverpool have only lost once away from Anfield this season but that defeat also came in Manchester in a poor 3-1 defeat to Louis Van Gaal’s side. It was also the only occasion that Liverpool have conceded more than 1 goal away from home this season this season.

Manchester City have won 5 games on the spin at the Etihad, scoring a plausible 20 goals in the process but conceded 1 goal in each victory. These two sides usually produce goals when they meet and the last time either side kept a clean sheet was back in January 2012 when Liverpool came away from the Etihad with a 1-0 victory. Raheem Sterling will be facing his former employers for the first time since leaving in the summer and he is more than certain to get a hostile reception from the travelling Liverpool supporters.

City are still sweating on the fitness of David Silva and Sergio Aguero who look to recover from their respective injuries. Samir Nasri is also close to making a comeback whilst Vincent Kompany remains a doubt with a calf strain. Wilfried Bony pulled up in the Villa draw with a hamstring injury and leaves Pellegrini desperately hoping Aguero has recovered in time. Liverpool meanwhile have 6 English players out with injury: James Milner, Jordan Ibe, Danny Ings, Joe Gomez, Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge but the latter is on the verge of returning. Mamadou Sakho picked up a serious looking knee injury in the Palace defeat and is likely to be out until the New Year.

Manchester City

Stats: W-8 L-2 D-2

Recent Form – DWWWD

Liverpool

Stats: W-4 L-3 D-5

Recent Form - DWWWL

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

Manchester City (4-2-3-1) – Hart, Sagna, Kompany, Otamendi, Kolarov, Fernando, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Yaya Toure, Sterling, Aguero.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1) – Mignolet, Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren, Moreno, Lucas, Can, Lallana, Coutinho, Firmino, Benteke

Injury List/Suspended Players

Manchester City – Nasri (inj), Silva (inj), Bony (inj)
Liverpool – Ings (inj), Rossiter (inj), Henderson (inj), Milner (inj), Gomez (inj), Sakho (inj), K Toure (inj), Ibe (inj), Flanagan (inj)

Man City v Liverpool Head to Head

League Positions