Liverpool's advantage
Liverpool entered the match against Man City with a very comfortable mentality. With Arsenal losing 0-1 to West Ham, Salah and his teammates are still 8 points ahead of the Gunners. They have a chance to increase the gap to 11 points and play 1 more match if they defeat Man City.
Despite having 2 draws in the last 3 matches, Liverpool is still the number 1 candidate for the championship. Opta's supercomputer predicts they have an 84.7% chance of winning the championship at the end of the season.
Liverpool will have some difficulties without Cody Gakpo in the squad. The Dutch striker is second only to Salah in attacking statistics this season. Gakpo has scored 16 goals and had 72 shots since the beginning of the season.
Salah continues to be a great hope for the visitors when meeting Man City. In the recent draw with Aston Villa, Salah scored 1 goal and had 1 assist. This is the 10th Premier League match this season that Salah has both scored and assisted in the match. His goals have brought Liverpool 31 points this season, more than any other player.
Man City is also Salah's favorite opponent, having scored 8 goals and had 5 assists in Premier League meetings. Only Steven Gerrard (14 goals and assists) has scored more against the Citizens in Premier League history, against Liverpool.
Man City are looking to recover their form after a 1-3 defeat in the UEFA Champions League to Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu in midweek. This result caused Pep Guardiola to be eliminated from the Champions League for the first time in the round of 16, in his 16th season in this competition.
However, in the Premier League, Man City have made progress. Since Christmas, only Liverpool and Arsenal have won more points than them (17 points with 5 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss). In the previous 8 matches, Haaland and his teammates only won 4 points.
In the previous round, Man City defeated Newcastle 4-0 at home. In this match, midfielder Nico Gonzalez played very well, with 100 accurate passes. He also made 3 tackles, winning 4/5 duels. Nico is seen as the best option to replace Rodri, who is still suffering from a long-term injury.
Striker Omar Marmoush is another bright spot for Man City. The Egyptian scored a hat-trick in just 33 minutes against Newcastle. This is the second quickest hat-trick a Man City player has scored in the Premier League after Kevin De Bruyne's 24-minute hat-trick against Wolves in May 2022.
With the ups and downs of Chelsea and Arsenal, Man City have a lot of motivation to defeat Liverpool, thereby consolidating their position in the Top 4 and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League next season.
Man City vs Liverpool head-to-head record
After a 2-0 win in the return match in December 2024 at Anfield, Liverpool are aiming to complete their third Premier League double against Man City in history, previously in the 2005 2006 and 2015-16 seasons.
In history, Liverpool have won double against defending Premier League champions 6 times, more than any other club.
Liverpool did this against Blackburn Rovers in 1995-1996, Man United in 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2008 2009 and 2013-2014, and Chelsea in 2010-2011.
However, Man City have lost just one of their last 15 Premier League home games against Liverpool, a 1-4 defeat in December 2015 under manager Manuel Pellegrini.
The Man City vs Liverpool match takes place at 11:30 p.m. on February 23.
