Liverpool v Manchester City Match Result
Liverpool have won ten of their twelve Premier League games this season and some punters will think the Reds are a great bet to land a victory against Manchester City. Arne Slot’s side are averaging two goals per game and they have conceded just eight times, with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate being a rock solid presence in central midfield.
Although Liverpool are warm favourites, the Premier League betting odds still imply that they are less than 50% likely to land a victory. They made hard work of beating Southampton last weekend, coming from behind at St Mary’s to secure a 3-2 victory against a team who are odds-on to go down this season.
The Merseyside team have largely been strong at Anfield, although they did lose 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest aside from their five victories. There have been some stunning home performances on home soil, not least the 4-0 demolition of Bayer Leverkusen and there could be some merit in combining a Liverpool win with BTTS Yes.
However, Manchester City need to get something from this game to remain in the title hunt, with Pep Guardiola hoping that his side can bounce back from that huge setback against Tottenham. Since beating Southampton 1-0, they have experienced five consecutive defeats going into their Champions League clash against Feyenoord.
Perhaps they can produce a reaction at Anfield, with Phil Foden looking to rediscover his amazing form of last season and it’s likely that Kevin De Bruyne will be given a start in this clash. However, this is an ageing team and the bookies are happy to take Manchester City on here.
Don’t discount the possibility of a draw. This is a game that the visitors can’t afford to lose and it might be that they batten down the hatches to get a positive result from the encounter.
Goals Under/Over
The bookies think that goals could be on the cards at Anfield. However, both matches involving Liverpool and Manchester City finished 1-1 last season, with Trent Alexander-Arnold cancelling out Erling Haaland’s opener at the Etihad Stadium before an Alexis MacAllister penalty secured another point for the Reds after John Stones had scored.
There’s only been a modest number of goals scored at Anfield this term, with fourteen goals registered in six matches. Liverpool run a tight ship defensively and perhaps that means that Under 2.5 Goals could be a value proposition, with the bookies working on the basis that there will be lots of attacking on show.
Manchester City’s six away matches have seen them score ten goals and concede seven, with a stout defensive display potentially on the cards, even if they are missing Rodri from the defensive midfield position. However, we do have to consider that the division’s leading scorers will be on the pitch in the form of Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah.
BTTS
Will both teams score at Anfield? The bookies think that it’s a likely outcome, with Liverpool having found the net in eleven of their twelve matches this season. It’s hard to see a scenario where they won’t create a number of chances against a team who conceded four goals against Tottenham last weekend, with Mohamed Salah enjoying a rich vein of scoring form.
The Egyptian was on target with two goals at St Mary’s, with the big question being whether Manchester City can find the net at Anfield. They have managed ten goals in six away matches this term and they have found the net in all of these games, even if the ones against Brighton and Bournemouth were consolation efforts.
Obviously Erling Haaland will be a handful for Virgil Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, with the Norwegian looking to spearhead a victory for his team and perhaps Pep Guardiola’s mentality will be to get on the front foot in search of goals.
First Goalscorer
There’s little to split Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah in the betting for First Goalscorer. The Norwegian came out of the traps flying at the beginning of the season and has twelve on the board, although he has scored just one goal in his previous four encounters at the time of writing.
Salah represents an attractive option considering that the Liverpool forward is looking world-class at the moment, with the Egyptian performing to a high level for the Reds despite the ongoing contract saga. He’s plundering goals at a high rate of knots right now, with twelve goals on the board already.
Luis Diaz tends to be more of a streaky scorer and the Colombian did manage to score a hat-trick against Bayer Leverkusen, although Cody Gakpo could be preferred on the left side for Liverpool and he could give Kyle Walker a tough time from that wide position.
Phil Foden is actually yet to score in the Premier League this term, although the England man has found the net three times in the Champions League, with Josep Gvardiol someone who can find the net at a bigger price.