Odds via 22bet | |
Liverpool vs Manchester City | December 1, 16:00 GMT+1 |
Liverpool odds | 2.08 |
Manchester City odds | 3.36 |
Draw | 3.6 |
Over\Under | Total 2,5: 1.51\2.26 |
Liverpool, benefiting from their own successes and the struggles of their rivals at the end of November, have a unique chance to get as close as possible to winning a second Premier League title in 34 years.
If the Reds win their next game against Manchester City, they will have a chance to move 11 points ahead of Pep Guardiola’s team and maintain at least a nine-point advantage over Arsenal.
Even with 25 rounds to go, this would represent a very big advantage. This is especially true considering that both City and Arsenal are going through a crisis this season, which raises huge doubts about whether they are ready psychologically to recover from such a large deficit against Liverpool.
The key question is: how have Liverpool, unlike their rivals, established such a strong position at the top? One of the main reasons is the relatively low number of injuries, which have regularly plagued the Reds in previous seasons and really hampered them in their fight for the top spot.
However, this season, at least until the end of November, Liverpool has not suffered any injuries to key players, except for Alisson, who Caoimhin Kelleher has superbly replaced. Trent Alexander-Arnold missed a few matches in November, but his absence can hardly be called long.
At the same time, Arsenal had a long-term injury to Martin Ødegaard – one of their key attacking players. His absence contributed to a serious decline in the team’s results in October. Meanwhile, Arteta’s team had other injuries to key players, notably Riccardo Calafiori and Ben White, which negatively affected Arsenal`s performance.
Manchester City’s main loss this season is the serious injury to Rodri, who is expected to be sidelined until June 2025.
In addition to that, City constantly struggle with injured central defenders. Guardiola has even been forced to use 19-year-old Jahmai Simpson-Pusey and 20-year-old Rico Lewis, which leads to regular lapses in defense.
On the other hand, Liverpool may also face injuries to key players. In particular, the participation of Ibrahima Konaté in the match against Manchester City is questionable, and the French centerback is indispensable for Liverpool. If Konaté, along with Gravenberch or Salah, both of whom have no suitable replacements, were to suffer long-term injuries, it would be very challenging to predict how Liverpool would fare.
Nevertheless, right now Liverpool are playing the best football in the Premier League, as supported by statistics such as actual and expected points, expected goals, and expected goals conceded.
Arne Slot’s team rarely loses the ball, leading to successful counterattacks of the opponents.
Meanwhile, Liverpool tends to significantly increase their pace in the second half and conducts lightning-fast vertical attacks, which, so far, no one has been able to contain.
Last season, Liverpool were absolutely the best in terms of expected goals but often struggled with their finishing, which let the team down. Additionally, the main problem was the constant failures in defense. The Reds regularly conceded goals due to ineffective positional defence in their 4-3-3 formation.
This season, under Arne Slot, Liverpool has implemented a 4-2-4 or 4-4-2 formation in the middle block, resulting in much more effective defending and, consequently, fewer goals conceded.
Recent Form | WWWWW |
Key Players to Watch | Mohamed Salah, Ryan Gravenberch, Ibrahima Konaté |
Team Strengths | Pressing and quick attacks |
Team Weaknesses | Positional attacks against deep blocks |
Key injuries and suspensions. | Alisson (Thigh Injury), Harvey Elliott (Ankle/Foot Injury), Diogo Jota (Chest/Abdominal Injury), Konstantinos Tsimikas, Federico Chiesa, Conor Bradley (doubtful), Ibrahima Konaté (doubtful). |
Manchester City come to Anfield as clear underdogs for the first time in 10-15 years. Pep Guardiola’s side have failed to win in six games, though they won five in a row in October before that.
The primary issue has been their persistent defensive failures. City are ninth in the Premier League in goals conceded and in expected goals conceded. This marks the first time in Pep Guardiola’s career that he has faced such poor defensive performance.
While the absence of the injured Rodri is a big factor, it is not the only reason behind the team’s substantial defensive issues.
It should be noted that this season Manchester City players often create their attacks in an unusual, risky 3-1-6 / 2-1-7 formation, which does not allow them to control the opponents’ flank counterattacks.
Moreover, they are passive in pressing and counter-pressing, and the defensive line is extremely bad at keeping the offside line. City’s central defenders and fullbacks regularly made gross mistakes that season. Joško Gvardiol’s performance in the second half against Feyenoord exemplified these issues.
Meanwhile, reserve players such as Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Rico Lewis, and Matheus Nunes have often made positional mistakes.
On the offensive side, Manchester City often lacks the tactical width to stretch the opponents’ low block, and structural zone filling problems regularly occur.
Despite these challenges, City consistently creates dangerous chances in every match, thanks to the exceptional individual skills of their players. However, Erling Haaland’s struggles with finishing have hindered the Cityzens from avoiding defeats in recent matches.
Recent Form | DLLLL |
Key Player to Watch | Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland |
Team Strengths | Powerful squad, top coach. |
Team Weaknesses | Vulnerable flanks of the defence. |
Key Injuries and suspensions | Rodri (Knee Injury), Oscar Bobb (Calf/Shin/Heel Injury), Mateo Kovačić, John Stones (Ankle/Foot Injury) |
In the era of Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola, Liverpool and Manchester City have regularly exchanged wins and often ended in draws.
Last season, both matches between Liverpool and Manchester City ended 1-1, with both teams having a good chance to win on home ground.
Liverpool have only lost to Man City at Anfield once in Premier League history, in February 2021. Meanwhile, the Reds have had four wins, and three draws against the Cityzens on their home pitch since 2018.
Bet hereMohamed Salah, Liverpool’s main playmaker and scorer, is absolutely the best player in the Premier League right now.
In 21 games against Manchester City, he has amassed 17 assists, including 11 goals and six assists. The odds on his goal are 2.3, and on his assist—3.75 at 22Bet.
Kevin De Bruyne has only recently recovered from injury, but it looks like he can become the team’s main leader and show both high-intensity pressing and maximum creativity in attack, providing Erling Haaland with penetrating passes.
Manchester City will most likely play in maximum defensive mode. In a match characterized by attacking football, Guardiola’s team would have significantly lower chances compared to Liverpool, who are in excellent form and playing at home.
The hosts will probably try to maximize the use of long passes behind the backs of Manchester City’s high defensive line, which has become very vulnerable this season.
Liverpool is definitely the favorite of this match, and we could easily choose a win for the home team.
However, the match against Real Madrid on Wednesday took a lot of energy from the Reds, and the visitors from Manchester will be super motivated to win this match to reduce the gap in points. Additionally, if Ibrahima Konaté is unable to play the full 90 minutes, Liverpool could face significant defensive challenges.
Therefore, the safer option is to bet that Liverpool will not lose in this match.
Liverpool will play on their own field and will surely try to take full advantage of Manchester City’s defensive weakness. Therefore, a win on shots on target looks a likely outcome for the hosts.
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