Match Result: Manchester City v Liverpool
Manchester City have been solid at the Etihad Stadium this season. After losing 2-0 at home to Tottenham in their opening clash, they have subsequently beaten Manchester United, Burnley, Everton and Bournemouth along the way. They’ve also beaten Napoli in the Champions League and have the world’s best striker featuring in attack for them.
The presence of Erling Haaland is like having a one-goal start. The Norwegian has scored thirteen top-flight goals in the space of ten games. He’s the main reason why City are trading at odds-on to land a victory. The odds imply that the home side have a 55% chance of recording a win against Liverpool, although they’ve not been foot perfect this term.
City have only won six of their ten Premier League matches this season. They have struggled on the road and only won two of their five away games. However, they will be facing a Liverpool side who have shown a weak defensive underbelly this term. Since landing five straight top-flight victories, the wheels have well and truly fallen off.
Until last weekend’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa, Arne Slot’s side had suffered four consecutive top-flight defeats. The ship has been steadied although there were some shaky early moments against the Villans. There were reverses at Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Brentford in the top-flight and the Merseyside outfit suffered a 1-0 defeat at Galatasaray in the Champions League.
New signings haven’t bedded in yet. Florian Wirtz has not secured a spot in the first team and Alexander Isak is struggling with injury and fitness. However, the return of Ryan Gravenberch to the midfield department has made the team stronger. Mohamed Salah is also starting to show flashes of why he’s regularly been the star performer in the Premier League over the past few seasons.
Goals Under/Over
It comes as no surprise to find Over 2.5 Goals trading at short odds. The current price is 1.50 and that suggests that there’s a 66% chance of three or more goals being scored. Odds of 2.10 are available when it comes to Over 3.5 Goals. That implies a 48% chance that we’ll see the net bulge at least four times.
There have been seventeen goals scored in five Manchester City games thus far. Similarly, there have been seventeen registered in five Liverpool away matches. Therefore, Over 2.5 Goals looks a solid enough pick when it comes to Bet Builders. However, it’s also the case that this is a game that neither side can afford to lose.
Given that Arsenal have kicked clear, a defeat could be really costly and this could lead to a low-scoring encounter. On the flip side, neither side have been defensively strong over the past few weeks and that could lead to an open game with attacks on top.
BTTS
Both teams to score is likely to be a popular selection for this Manchester City v Liverpool game. Odds of 1.44 suggest a 70% chance that BTTS Yes happens. Guardiola’s side have scored in four of their five home matches, kicking on after drawing a blank against Tottenham. They scored five against Burnley, along with three goals apiece when facing Manchester United and Bournemouth.
Liverpool have mustered eight goals in their five away games. They have registered in all their visits in the Premier League and it was only a Champions League encounter in Istanbul where the Merseyside team drew a blank. There’s plenty of firepower within the ranks, with Hugo Ekitike likely to lead the line. He’s likely to be flanked by Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah.
Previous encounters between the pair have been interesting. Last season, Liverpool landed a 2-0 win home and away against Manchester City. The victory at the Etihad Stadium was as recently as February, with two first-half goals from the Reds helping them stay on course to land the title. However, the Cityzens did have five shots on target.
The big concern for City is an overreliance on Haaland for goals. If Liverpool are able to stop the big striker in his tracks, it’s possible that the home side can run into blind alleys.
First Goalscorer
Erling Haaland has scored thirteen Premier League goals this season. The games against Tottenham and Aston Villa are the only times that the Norwegian has failed to register. In total, he has twenty-six in all competitions and it’s entirely possible that the forward will finish on sixty or seventy. There’s also the fact that Haaland tends to be the first name on the scoresheet and you can still get big odds that he breaks the deadlock.
It does seem as though he’s a difficult player to stop. And the fact that Liverpool have conceded nine goals on the road is a worry. It’s hard to be too confident about any other City player finding the net right now. Perhaps this is where Phil Foden rediscovers his scoring form and he will certainly add some thrust from a central midfield position.
Mohamed Salah was the Premier League top scorer last season although the Egyptian’s numbers have been well down this term. We think that a better LFC bet could be Dominic Szoboszlai who will definitely get into good scoring positions. The Hungarian has also been able to score a worldy of a free-kick against Arsenal and is likely to be on set piece duties again.