Liverpool vs Man City Preview

Overview

Good Day, fellow Reds! Well, here we go: the first huge match of two between Liverpool FC and Manchester City – or as I’ve been calling them for the better part of two years “Abu Dhabi F.C.” due to their should-be-illegal ties to the Royal Family of (you guessed it) Abu Dhabi. Sheik Mansour is worth a cool $20 billion, and his family is valued around $1 TRILLION dollars… but no, they never skirt around the FFP rules.

Liverpool come into this match in first place with a tally of 16 points. “ADFC” on the other hand are… hold on, trying to find them… still looking… oh here we go. They are 10th in the league on 11 points. The man with the whistle for the match at the Ethihad is Craig Pawson, and the man behind the curtain screen is Paul Tierney. It is amazing Martin Atkinson somehow is not involved in this match. The weather for the match is slated to be in the low 50s with a 25% chance of rain. The match can be viewed here in the States at 11:30 am EST on Peacock.

Injuries

Liverpool come into Sunday’s match with not too many surprises on the injury front. Out are Virgil Van Dijk (knee). Fabinho is out with his hamstring problem. All the kings horses and all the kings men are still trying to put Thiago’s leg back together. But that shouldn’t take much longer. Finally Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain continues paying rent to the injury list as he is currently living on it.

For City, their list is almost just as long. Striker Sergio Aguero is a major doubt with a hamstring injury. Fernandinho will miss on Sunday due to a issue with his leg. And Benajmin Mendy is also out with a muscle malfunction.

Previous League Form

Liverpool has taken 10 from a possible 15 points in their previous five matches. Here is how they fared:

W (2-1 WHU) – W (2-1 SHU) – “D” (1-1 David Boote) – L (2-7 AVL) – W (3-1 ARS)

Man City has taken eight from a possible 15 points. Here are those results:

W (1-0 SHU) – D (1-1 WHU) – W (1-0 ARS) – D (1-1 LEE) – L (2-5 LEI).

Lineup

The Reds’ lineup is starting to ask some questions in the mid-field and upfront. The back four are Andrew Robertson at LB, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip will both start at CB, and Trent-Alexander Arnold on the right. I think the midfield will see Jordan Henderson in the middle, with Gini Wijnaldum and Curtis Jones on his flanks. Despite the calls for Diogo to replace Bobby, I feel that he is better served coming off the bench in the second half after City’s defenders chase Bobby around for the better part of an hour. With that being said, the front three lineup as usual, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, and Mo Salah.

City could line up like this: (4-3-3) Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan; Mahrez, Jesus, Sterling

Predictions

The gap between the two sides are widening with every week. I think ADFC are starting to run their course with Pep. Liverpool seems to have finally made it out of first gear with their midweek thrashing of Atalanta. Look for that to continue as the Reds win 4-1.

The man of the match will be Bobby. I think he has heard all the so-called “experts” and even though he would never publicly acknowledge it, it has to be driving him crazy. I would not be surprised to see him get a goal and an assist or two, along with those cheeky flicks and touches we are all so used to seeing.

Questions? Comments? Think I’m wrong? Let me know in the comments

YNWA

Hooch