Overview
Over the past decade, the encounters between Liverpool and Manchester City have always been considered the most anticipated matches in the Premier League.
Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola once created one of the most fierce competitions in the history of the league, when the two teams continuously competed for the top spot in classic matches. However, this season, it feels like this is no longer a "all put on the scale" confrontation as usual.
Last season, Liverpool defeated Man City both in the first and second legs (both 2-0) on the way to the Premier League title, while Pep Guardiola's team was soon excluded from the race. Before the match at Anfield this weekend, Man City aims to avenge their debt by winning both legs against Liverpool.
The Citizens entered this great battle with the hope still intact in the championship race. The 2-2 draw at Tottenham Hotspur last week - where they dropped the 2-0 lead - made them 6 points behind the leading team Arsenal, although that gap could be widened to 9 points when the match at Anfield takes place.
Conversely, Liverpool is experiencing a difficult season defending the throne. They are in sixth place, 14 points behind Arsenal, but at least managed to recover after a narrow defeat to Bournemouth with a 4-1 victory over Newcastle United.
Coincidentally, Man City also just defeated Newcastle, but in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, thereby scheduling an appointment with Arsenal at Wembley next month.
Liverpool entered the match against Newcastle after a 5-match winless streak in the Premier League - their worst record since 2021. Things became even more gloomy for Arne Slot when the "Magpies" dominated the first 30 minutes and opened the score thanks to Anthony Gordon.
However, Liverpool responded extremely strongly. Florian Wirtz created a classy assist for Hugo Ekitike to equalize, before Ekitike himself doubled the gap just 2 minutes later with a delicate handling. Wirtz increased the score to 3-1 in the middle of the second half, then Ibrahima Konate sealed the victory in the final minutes.
Liverpool has a habit of going against the curve. Since the beginning of last season, only 3 teams have earned more points than them in conceding goals in the Premier League (28). At the same time, only Brighton (42) scored more goals than Liverpool (41) in the matches they conceded first.
Although the series of declines at the beginning of the season almost ruined hopes of defending the throne, Liverpool has since become more difficult to defeat. Also because of this, it is very likely that they will have to "go backwards" this weekend, because Man City is the only team in the Premier League in 2026 that has not conceded a goal in the first half and has scored 6 goals in the first 45 minutes.
Ironically, Man City is also the only team that has not scored in the second half since the beginning of the year, and conceded 6 goals after halftime. This may be a weakness for Liverpool to exploit at Anfield.
Head-to-head record
Liverpool has only lost 1 of their last 22 home matches in the Premier League against Man City.
However, after a 3-0 victory at Etihad in November last year, Man City is aiming for a double against Liverpool for the first time since the 1936-1937 season. This is also the last time they have defeated Liverpool in 2 consecutive matches in the national championship.
In the Premier League era, the team that last defeated Liverpool twice in the same season without conceding a goal was West Ham United in the 2015-2016 season.
Score prediction: Liverpool 2-2 Man City
The match between Liverpool and Man City takes place at 11:30 PM on February 8th (Vietnam time).
