Liverpool vs Manchester City. Premier League.
AnfieldAttendance53,102.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Thiago Alcantara absent for Liverpool; no fresh injury concerns for champions Man City; watch Liverpool vs Man City live on Sky Sports Premier League from 4pm on Sunday, kick-off 4.30pm
Sunday 3 October 2021 08:16, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Liverpool vs Man City in the Premier League on Super Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm.
Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold and midfielder Thiago Alcantara will be absent for the visit of Manchester City.
The England right-back (groin) and the Spain international (calf) will miss the club's final game before the upcoming international break.
Midfielder James Milner looks set to continue deputising for Alexander-Arnold, although manager Jurgen Klopp could consider Joe Gomez for the position.
Manchester City have no fresh injury concerns following their Champions League trip to Paris St Germain in midweek.
Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan and left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko remain on the sidelines with thigh and calf injuries respectively.
Manager Pep Guardiola is hopeful both players will be fit to return after the international break.
Liverpool vs Man City is live on Sky Sports Premier League from 4pm; kick-off 4.30pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle
A fixture to get the pulse racing. This modern-day rivalry between two sensational football teams is now the jewel in the Premier League crown. Usually fixtures of this magnitude and importance tend to steer me away from having a strong opinion as the markets are very well informed and the game can be settled by such fine margins. However, I think Manchester City are a backable price here at 6/4 with Sky Bet. I'm taking the best defence in the league to shut down what is perceived to be the best attack.
I'm surprised the injury to Trent Alexander-Arnold hasn't affected the price for an away win more. He is absolutely pivotal for the way Liverpool construct their attacking patterns.
No Premier League player has created more chances than Alexander-Arnold this season. He has created 21 chances which is the joint-most along with Bruno Fernandes, despite the Liverpool man playing 90 minutes less. He has also played at least 14 more passes into the box than any other Premier League player. Jamie Carragher is right: he is a playmaker down the right flank.
His absence should be just as important as if City were missing Kevin de Bruyne or Chelsea were without Romelu Lukaku, yet City's price for an away win hasn't been affected too much.
Even if Liverpool had their fabulous full-back, I'd still be interested in City shutting them out, so without him, my punting juices are fully flowing as this City defence is a beast.
Chelsea failed to register a single shot on target vs City last weekend and this defence now hasn't conceded in the league since the opening day defeat to Tottenham. This is the bedrock for my interest in the 6/4 for an away win but I'm going fishing for a bigger price. With Ruben Dias in the City team, 21 of their 28 wins (75 per cent) have been without conceding a goal. Therefore, with Liverpool's main creative force in the stands, the jump from 6/4 to 7/2 with Sky Bet for City to win without conceding is too juicy to pass up and is worth some serious interest.
SCORE PREDICTION: 0-2
BETTING ANGLE: Manchester City to win to nil (7/2 with Sky Bet)
