Liverpool vs Man City Match Preview

A Premier League blockbuster headlines on Sunday as league leaders Liverpool welcome misfiring champions Manchester City to Merseyside.

They go head-to-head on Sunday, December 1st at Anfield with a 16:30 kick-off time and the game is live on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League.

Arne Slot comes up against Pep Guardiola for the first time as Reds boss and the Dutchman will know that a win here establishes a massive 11-point gap over the four-in-a-row Premier League champions.

That is a massive carrot for the Anfield outfit and with City’s recent woes showing no signs of abating, the Reds will sense blood.

Tip 1: Liverpool to win and Under 3.5 goals @ 12/5

The last two Anfield meetings between this pair have produced a total of three goals – a 1-1 draw in March and a single-goal Liverpool success in October 2022.

City head for Merseyside after shipping seven goals in two games against Tottenham and Feyenoord, but this still seems unlikely to be a goal-fest.

Liverpool under Slot are managing games, they have control over what is happening, are cool in possession and patient in their approach, as evidenced in the midweek 2-0 win over Real Madrid here.

For all of Guardiola’s magnificent achievements and the fact his team generally held sway over Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in their rivalry, the Spaniard has only won once in nine trips to Anfield, a 4-1 win behind closed doors during lockdown in February 2021.

He has suffered five defeats and drawn three times there.

Liverpool have shut out Bayer Leverkusen, Aston Villa and Real in their three recent Anfield wins and they can win a low-scoring encounter.

Tip 2: Mohamed Salah to score first @ 11/2

This will be the 16th time that Mohamed Salah has faced City in the Premier League, all of them for Liverpool, and the Egyptian has a fine tally of seven goals scored.

Five of his seven have come at Anfield, including a stunning solo effort in a 2-2 draw in October 2021 and that most recent winner in October ’22.

Salah inspired Liverpool to a comeback win at Southampton last Sunday and shouldn’t be left with any scars after he was off-target with a penalty in midweek as his side dismissed Real 2-0 despite his wasted chance.

He remains the player that makes Liverpool tick and has 14 goals for club and country this season already.

He can continue his good record against the Citizens by making it six in eight at Anfield in this Premier League fixture.

Tip 3: Andy Robertson to be booked @ 13/5

Liverpool will need to be wary at the back. A sloppy mistake from Virgil van Dijk was the catalyst for a Southampton penalty on Sunday and Real also had a spot-kick in midweek, which was superbly saved by Caoimhin Kelleher from Kylian Mbappe.

In both instances Andy Robertson was the fall guy. He brought down Tyler Dibling at St Mary’s and his foul on Lucas Vazquez was punished in midweek.

City may be struggling for form, but they will present a challenge to Liverpool and the Scotland left-back will probably have the likes of Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne trying to cause him problems on his side of the pitch.