Battle At The Top – Manchester City VS Liverpool.

On Saturday November 25th, Manchester City will host Liverpool in the Etihad Stadium. This will be the renewal of the dormant Pep-Klopp rivalry. Liverpool’s record against the treble winners in all competitions has been the better of the two; having won three out of the last 5 (W3-L2-D0). On the other hand, the Premier League Champions have gotten the better results in the premier league; they have won two of the last five (W2-L0-D3). These two teams have been the most evenly matched teams in the league, and have provided a plethora of opportunities for entertainment, drama, and controversy.

Going into the weekend Manchester City are in the headlines on the back of reports about point deductions and relegation due to financial fair play breaches. No evident conclusion has been reached on the issue, but the problem will be looming large in the minds of executive personnel at the club. Liverpool have recently bounced back from a lacklustre season full of defeats, disappointment and complacency; finishing the season in 5th place and missing out on the Champions League for the first time in a few years. Jurgen Klopp has gotten hold of the dressing room, and with key signings like Dominic Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac-Allister in midfield he has restored the creative edge on his side.

These signings have given Liverpool a fantastic record in the league, they have only tasted defeat once this season (at Tottenham) and have bagged a total of 11 points in their last 5 games (27 out of a possible 36 in the premier league). The Citizens did not have a bad start, but it’s not at the level that their fans would’ve expected. 1-0 defeats against Arsenal and Wolves in the league, as well as a repeat of the result in the third round of the Carabao Cup has seen them knocked out early and trying their best to stay ahead of the chasing pack in the title race. Pep Guardiola will be hoping to get a result and hopefully keep the away end silent when the 90 minutes are up.

Injury problems are the talk of every Premier League club, and these two giants are not a exception. Liverpool’s injury list includes the likes of Thiago Alcantara, Andy Robertson, Stefan Bajcetic, and Joe Gomez. Ibrahima Konate and Ryan Gravenberch are expected to be available for selection on Saturday, and Alexis Mac-Allister will be back from suspension after serving his ban for the Brentford game. Pep Guardiola’s side has a much more extensive and impactful list. The likes of Sergio Gomez, John Stones, Matheus Nunez, Mateo Kovacic and Kevin De Bruyne being side-lined for the game. Nathan Ake was not available for selection for the Chelsea game and Guardiola claims he experienced a knockduring training; his availability on Saturday will be in question.

Ederson also picked up a knock during the last five minutes of the game and he was assessed, we’re yet to see how severe the injury will be. Erling Haaland had to come off during a game for Norway during the international break, although reports from Fabrizio Romano say that the injury “is not serious and he will be fit for City vs Liverpool.” Games like this are about the fine margins, let’s see which of these two will be missing out on their unavailable players.

The game will be live on Sky Sports Main event and Sky Sports Premier League in the UK at 15:30 BST. In America, you can catch up on the game via Peacock at 07:30 EST and 04:30 PST. Now it’s time for us to sit back, relax, and watch box office football.