All eyes will be on Anfield this weekend for what promises to be a hugely significant match in the 2024/25 Premier League title race.
Manchester City make the trip to Merseyside licking their wounds as their poor run of form continued with them throwing away a late three-goal lead against Feyenoord in the Champions League, as the Dutch side left the Etihad with a 3-3 draw.
While that did put to an end a run of five consecutive defeats for Pep Guardiola’s side, it was not what the team needed ahead of a trip to face the Premier League leaders for a match which Jamie Carragher admitted could see him make a U-turn on his title prediction.
Liverpool warmed up for the Sunday afternoon clash in contrasting fashion, sweeping aside Real Madrid 2-0 and have the opportunity to open up an 11-point lead over City with a win.
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Chris Sutton predicts more Man City misery
Like many people, Chris Sutton has believed that City will soon put in a big performance and get back on track, but he is not confident that this will be the weekend that they turn their fortunes around.
“You look through their team and it makes me want to stick to my mantra from the past few weeks, which is that City will respond and remind us how good they are,” he told the BBC.
“We all know how good they can be and you could never rule out, say, Phil Foden coming good, or Erling Haaland putting in a big performance.
“The problem with that thought process is that there just doesn’t seem much to suggest that will happen at Anfield. Foden has not been himself all season, and I really don’t know why. Haaland is missing a lot of chances and City are conceding a lot of goals. So I just don’t see them bouncing back against Liverpool, even if Bradley and Konate cannot play.
“It’s been a good week for Liverpool and a good season so far but a win to send them 11 points clear of the defending champions would make it a great week and a great campaign, and that’s what I am going for.
“They might not just beat City, they could take them apart like Spurs did.”
Sutton’s prediction: 4-1
- Man City injury list 2024/25: Latest updates and potential return dates for sidelined stars
Could Liverpool injuries be a key factor?
Manchester City’s injury issues have been well documented over the past two months, but the queue for Liverpool’s treatment room has been getting longer in recent weeks.
Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley were both injured against Madrid on Wednesday, with Arne Slot unable to confirm whether either would be fit this weekend.
Goalkeeper Alisson has been out since before the international break and summer signing Federico Chiesa has missed the club’s last 11 matches, while Kostas Tsmikas and Diogo Jota are also sidelined, but Slot has confirmed a big Liverpool injury boost, as Trent Alexander-Arnold is available.
