Premier League matches don’t come much bigger.
Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp will insist that there are still plenty of points to be won and lost between now and the final day of the season on Sunday 22 May, but Sunday’s meeting between Manchester City and Liverpool still has the feeling of a winner-takes-all affair.
The pair have shared the Premier League trophy since 2018 but for the first time since the 18-19 season, neither has much of a headstart on the other as the campaign reaches crunch time.
At one stage, it looked as though City would swagger their way to a second uncontested title in a row, but a relentless pursuit by Liverpool has narrowed the gap between the top two to just a solitary point.
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Ahead of the most consequential game of the Premier League season, at least at the top end of the division, i‘s writers have submitted their predictions. And with little, if anything to separate arguably Europe’s two most complete teams, verdicts were invariably split…
Mark Douglas
They have been the Premier League’s two outstanding teams for most of the past four years and it feels like that rivalry has been building to Sunday’s crescendo.
Manchester City’s deep well of talent probably shades Liverpool’s and if it comes down to late changes or rotation, they may have the edge.
It wouldn’t be that much of a surprise if the two sides share the spoils and win every league game remaining, just as they did in 2019.
Score prediction: Man City 2-2 Liverpool
Key battle: Raheem Sterling vs Andy Robertson
Daniel Storey
I think we have to assume that Liverpool will try and start fast, given that City haven’t dropped a point when taking the lead this season.
But if they can build up a head of steam (perhaps with the four attackers we’ve seen them use before in this fixture), Klopp’s side can score first, extend that lead and leave City chasing the game.
We saw against Atletico how Phil Foden can drop into space and cause huge problems for defenders getting dragged out of position. It will be Fabinho’s job to guard against that space.
Score prediction: Man City 1-2 Liverpool
Key battle: Phil Foden vs Fabinho
Analysis: Liverpool, Man City and the development of a new Premier League rivalry
By Daniel Storey, i‘s chief football writer
Sporting rivalries are fascinating most because they contain strong strands of interdependence. For all the spite of derby matches, the worst and best days of the season, they are also pillars of our support, the first games to which the eyes are drawn when the fixtures are released. Rival clubs need each other; animosity becomes oxygen.
And so have Liverpool and Manchester City propelled each other, feeding off the relentlessness – and acrimony – of the other. Never is that viewed better than at the end of 2018-19, when Liverpool dropped six points (all draws) from February onwards and City won every league game.
Cut to the final day of the season, with Wolves chanting that Raheem Sterling was top of the league to a chorus of Anfield boos. Sterling’s move is not insignificant; he is the only player to move directly between them in the last decade. It is hard to envisage anyone else doing so now.
The great oddity of this rivalry is that they are both competing for the same trophies and yet with different goals. Manchester City have established a domestic mini-dynasty but their owners demand that the project is not complete until they win the Champions League. Liverpool need another league title to fully fulfil the potential of this extraordinary period under Klopp.
Both are strong and rich enough to want both, but if Liverpool won the league and City the Champions League you suspect that they would be privately content. It is the desire not to cede ground to the other that forces fights on multiple fronts.
James Gray
I always think in recent years that form goes out of the window a bit in this clash, because there is so much history between the two managers.
You would expect Jordan Henderson to start, after he came off the bench to close the game down in Portugal. He will be asked to protect the back four from the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden, and there lies the key to this game.
With so much on the line here, you’ve got to think it will be cagey – and that favours City.
Score prediction: Man City 2-1 Liverpool
Key battle: Kevin De Bruyne vs Jordan Henderson
Katherine Lucas
The momentum feels like it’s with the chasers; Phil Foden’s turn to set up Kevin De Bruyne’s winner against Atletico supposedly showed City’s unrivalled depth, but Liverpool have had five different goalscorers in their last two games.
Had Trent Alexander-Arnold still been out, I might have edged towards City, but it will be telling how fit he is – it’s a big opportunity for Jack Grealish or Raheem Sterling to test him.
Score prediction: Man City 1-2 Liverpool
Key battle: Jack Grealish/Raheem Sterling vs Trent Alexander-Arnold
Oliver Young-Myles
Crystal Palace and Spurs have provided the blueprint to beating City at the Etihad: soak up their possession and blitz them on the counter-attack. Against Palace, City had 68 per cent of the ball and lost; against Spurs, they had 71 per cent and lost.
Liverpool possess pace and movement in abundance and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Jurgen Klopp’s latest livewire Luis Diaz adds to his goalscoring tally. At the other end, Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip have marshalled the side to seven clean sheets in Liverpool’s last 10 league games.
Scoreline: Man City 0-2 Liverpool
Key battle: Kyle Walker vs Luis Diaz
Layton Ryan-Parson
The Reds have not won at the Etihad since April 2018 in the Champions League quarter-finals – a record that extends to November 2015 in the Premier League.
And with Mo Salah struggling for form by failing to score a non-penalty goal in seven games, it may be the perfect time to face Liverpool.
Joao Cancelo’s defensive work goes unnoticed; he averages the most tackles and interceptions per game in City’s squad. He must shut down the Egyptian who will always pose a threat.
Score prediction: Man City 2-1 Liverpool
Key battle: Joao Cancelo vs Mo Salah
How i‘s writers have predicted Man City vs Liverpool
Man City win: Two votes
Liverpool win: Three votes
Draw: One
Most common scoreline: Man City 1-2 Liverpool
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