This time last season saw these two teams enter the last few games of a great title race, which ended with final day drama, but a year later, Liverpool are now entering the final stages of the season chasing a Champions League spot, whilst Manchester City are chasing Arsenal to try and grab a third straight Premier League title.
After concerns about their form after the international break, with losses away to Manchester United and Tottenham in the Premier League and to Southampton in the Carabao Cup, Man City have responded like champions and have gone unbeaten in their last 10 games, winning 8, including their last 6, scoring 31 goals and conceding just 5, including 5 straight clean sheets leading up to the international break.
Their reinvigoration in form has coincided with getting Erling Haaland back amongst the goals, with Haaland failing to score 5 of 7 games which included losses to Man Utd, Spurs and Southampton, but since the Spurs game, he has scored 11 goals and grabbed 2 assists in 9 games and in his two games before the international break, he was frightening defences, scoring a staggering 8 goals in 2 games against RB Leipzig and Burnley.
Man City fans will be very confident coming into this game, not only because of their overall form compared to Liverpool, but because they have been formidable at home this season, playing 22 games, winning 20, drawing once and losing once, scoring an eye-watering 76 goals whilst conceding just 17.
Liverpool have had a few false dawns this season with wins making people think they can get back into the form of previous seasons, with their win over City at Anfield being one of them, but their 7-0 thumping over rivals Man Utd might’ve been another one, as it was followed by 1-0 defeats away to Bournemouth and Real Madrid.
The hope for Liverpool fans in this game is that the record of Mo Salah against Man City holds up, with the Egyptian playing scoring 10 and assisting 5 in his 17 games against their league rivals for the reds, including 4 goals and 2 assists in his last 5 Premier League appearances against the reigning champions.
Whilst City fans will be confident with their home form, Liverpool fans will be dreading the game because of their away form this season, winning just 6 away games in all competitions this season, losing 11 and drawing 3 times and in their last 3 away trips, they have failed to get the ball in the back of the net.
The recent meetings of theses teams have been some of the highest level of football ever played, and the pendulum has been swinging in their form against each other, as before their Carabao Cup victory just after the World Cup, Man City had failed to win in 5 games against Liverpool, but that came after a run which saw City win 4 of 6 meetings.
Whatever the results, these fixtures have mainly been close affairs with goals scored, with 11 of their last 16 meetings either being draws or decided by a single goal, and in 10 of those games, at least 4 goals have been scored.
