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Liverpool vs Manchester City Betting Tips
Bet on a Liverpool win at 7/5 odds
Premier League is set to say goodbye to 2016 with a New Year’s Eve cracker at Anfield. Liverpool and Manchester City put their title ambitions on the line when they go head to head in an eagerly awaited evening kickoff at Liverpool’s home-ground. Only a point defines the superior between the two sides and a win would provide a monumental breakthrough in their respective title races. Sitting second on the table, Liverpool are genuine contenders to win the league this season; a glory that has eluded them since 1990. The Reds bounced back to win 4-1 against Stoke on Wednesday evening after going a goal down. Jon Walters put the visitors ahead in the 12th minute but Adam Lallana and Roberto Firmino scored to put Liverpool ahead in the break. An unfortunate Giannelli Imbula own goal and a Daniel Sturridge strike added to Stoke’s misery after the interval.
Pep Guardiola was in the stands to see Liverpool’s 4-1 hammering of Stoke. Anfield hasn’t been a lucky hunting ground for Manchester City and Liverpool’s recent form will give Pep Guardiola more reasons to be worried about. He’ll be going back to the drawing board trying to devise a plan to defuse the energetic engine Jurgen Klopp has built. Guardiola might have concerns over his team’s shaky defense but he will also have a formidable forward line at his disposal boosted by the return of Sergio Aguero. Manchester City have recovered nicely after they suffered consecutive defeats against Chelsea and Leicester. Guardiola’s men have emerged victorious in all of their last three matches; conceding only one goal and defeating fellow title contenders Arsenal.
- Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp had insisted earlier that Phillippe Coutinho could be back in time for facing Manchester City but the German dismissed his earlier statement on Thursday afternoon saying he is still unfit to play.
“No [he will not return], but he’s in a good way,” Klopp said.
“The City game for sure is too early, pretty sure the Sunderland game is too early too.”
Injuries: Phillippe Coutinho(ankle), Joel Matip(ankle), Marko Grujic(muscle), Cameron Brannagan(ankle), Danny Ings(knee)
Doubt: Joseph Gomez(lack of match fitness)
- Manchester City
Sergio Aguero is an eligible choice to lead the line for City at Anfield since the Argentine completed his four match ban. John Stones might be absent with a knee injury which could prompt Guardiola to deploy Aleksandar Kolarov in an expedient centre-back role.
Injuries: Vincent Kompany(knee), IIkay Gundogan(knee), Fabian Delph(knock)
Doubt: John Stones(knee)
PREDICTION
Since their FA Cup win over the hosts back in 1956, Manchester City have managed to win only twice at Anfield and none of those wins came in City’s rejuvenation period under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Manchester City reappeared as a title challenger in English football since the Abu Dhabi United Group takeover but Anfield remained invincible to them. A draw would not be of much help to any of these teams as both look to keep the pressure on Chelsea who are already enjoying a six point gap at the top of pile. Both teams have great quality in their squads but we feel that Liverpool will utilize their home advantage to see off the visitors.
Bet on a Liverpool win at 7/5 odds
RECENT FORM
- Liverpool(2nd in the league, last 5 matches in all competitions)
4-1(Home, Stoke)1-0(Away, Everton)3-0(Away, Middlesbrough)2-2(Home, West Ham)3-4(Away, Bournemouth)
- Manchester City(3rd in the league, last 5 matches in all competitions)
3-0(Away, Hull)2-1(Home, Arsenal)2-0(Home, Watford)2-4(Away, Leicester)1-1(UCL, Home, Celtic)
HEAD TO HEAD
Total Played | Liverpool wins | City wins | Draws |
204 | 100 | 53 | 51 |
LAST MEETING
2 March, 2016
Anfield
Premier League
Liverpool 3-Manchester City 0
INTERESTING FACTS
- Liverpool last 20 home games against teams below them-12 wins, 6 draws, 2 losses, 2.4 goals scored/game, 1.1 goals conceded/game
- Manchester City last 20 away games against teams above them-3 wins, 4 draws, 13 losses, 1.1 goals scored/game, 1.8 goals conceded/game
- Liverpool have won their last three Premier League games against City in a row. The last time they won four consecutively against the Citizens was in 1981 (a run of seven).
- Manchester City’s last and only Premier League win at Anfield (D5 L13) came in May 2003, as Nicolas Anelka scored twice against his former club in a 2-1 victory.
- Sergio Aguero has scored four times against Liverpool in the Premier League but none of those goals have been at Anfield.
- Liverpool have never failed to score in their previous 19 home Premier League games against City.
- Liverpool ended both 2014 (4-1 v Swansea City) and 2015 (1-0 v Sunderland) with a league win.
- Since failing to score in consecutive Premier League games at the end of March 2016, Man City have only failed to find the net in one of their last 26 matches and scored 58 goals in that time.
- Claudio Bravo has kept as many clean sheets in his last three Premier League appearances (2) as he did in his first 12.
- Kelechi Iheanacho (20y 84d) is the third youngest Premier League player to score five goals from the subs bench – the two younger than him are Wayne Rooney (18y 64d) and Jermain Defoe (19y 160d).
- Daniel Sturridge scored his first Premier League goal of the season in Liverpool’s win over Stoke City on December 27th – it was his 21st shot of 2016-17 overall in the competition.
- Adam Lallana has been involved in more goals than any other midfielder in the Premier League this season (13 – seven goals, six assists).
- Liverpool have scored 86 league goals in 2016 so far; their best tally in a calendar year since 1985.
Bet on a Liverpool win at 7/5 odds