Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool face a tough away trip to current league leaders Manchester City in Saturday’s late game.
The Reds have just one league victory under their new manager and have struggled to notch up the goals this season with much of that due to the injuries sustained by their strike force.
City, on the other hand, have had no issues scoring goals, netting more goals than any other team in the league.
Key Battle – Vincent Kompany vs Christian Benteke
Two Belgians will battle it out in what will be an entertaining clash to say the least. The duo will know all about each other having spent the past few years in the Belgian national setup.
Kompany might be a doubt for this one but will likely feature. The Sky Blues have only conceded one league goal when their skipper has played as is a key ingredient to City’s defence. Kompany has also netted two goals this season having failed to score any in the previous campaign.
The other Belgian in consideration has had serious struggles with injury since joining the Merseyside club at the start of this season. Despite missing a chunk of games already, Benteke has still managed four goals and continues to impress with his performances. Liverpool will be highly dependent on Benteke to produce the goods against what will be a tough challenge against Manuel Pellegrini’s side.
Team News
City have quite a few injury concerns, with Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri, David Silva and Pablo Zabaleta all likely miss out on Saturday’s clash, while Wilfried Bony and Kompany remain doubts.
Manchester City Expected XI (4-2-3-1): Hart (GK), Sagna, Otamendi, Kompany, Kolarov; Fernandinho, Toure; Navas, De Bruyne, Sterling; Bony.
Klopp will be hopeful for Daniel Sturridge to be passed fit ahead of the City clash but the Englishman is unlikely to start the game in any case. Jordan Ibe and James Milner might also make the cut but Jordan Henderson, John Flanagan, Joe Gomez, Danny Ings, Jordan Rossiter and Mamadou Sakho are all ruled out.
Liverpool Expected XI (4-2-3-1): Mignolet (GK); Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren, Moreno; Can, Leiva; Ibe, Lallana, Coutinho; Benteke.
Head-to-Head
Saturday’s encounter will mark the 202nd fixture in all competitions between the two sides, with Liverpool claiming the majority of the wins. The Reds have won 98 times while City have won 52 and the remaining 51 ending as draws.
Previous Meeting
The last meeting between the two was at the start of March this year at Anfield when Liverpool came away 2-1 victors. But in the reverse fixture at the Etihad it was City who ran away comfortable winners, 3-1.
Prediction
City will claim three points from this fixture although it has all the makings of a tight and entertaining encounter. Liverpool are missing quite a few players with injury and do not have the same strength in depth as City do. But Klopp’s side will go to Manchester with a win on their minds.
Manchester City 2 Liverpool 1
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