Premier League: Manchester City Vs Liverpool – Match preview

Man City may be peaking at just the right time defensively, keeping six clean sheets in their last eight games.

Manchester City

The world will tune into the Etihad Stadium for a potential title decider, as treble-chasing Manchester City host quadruple-chasing Liverpool, in what is also a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup semi-finals. City’s one-time 14-point lead now stands at just a solitary point, and with both sides confident after midweek success in Europe, this should be an epic battle. Man City may be peaking at just the right time defensively, keeping six clean sheets in their last eight games. Couple that with their strong record across 11 straight goalscoring Premier League home H2Hs against the ‘Reds’, and City are likely confident they can stay ahead in the title race.

Liverpool

Yet Liverpool’s streak of eight successive away wins – a first in the club’s entire history – could render that City scoring record near-meaningless. Another nugget of terrace lore is on their side too, as when the league’s top-two sides have met within the final ten games of the season, the second-placed side has won on the last five occasions! Whoever scores the first goal may well decide the colour of the Premier League trophy’s ribbons come May, especially as City have won every league game when they’ve taken the lead this season. History beckons for them, as no team has ever gone a full Premier League campaign without dropping points after leading, but Liverpool are also yet to experience defeat from such a position.

Both City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah have played in this Premier League encounter nine times. De Bruyne is hoping to add to his tally of seven-goal contributions, while Salah has an inverse contribution record, and will be keen to score for the fourth Premier League H2H match in a row. Liverpool are one of two teams in Europe’s top-five league’s yet to trail at half-time this season.