Preview: Man City host Liverpool in Sunday headlinerShareManchester City need three points from their match against Liverpool to retain a Champions League place for next season, even if their title bid has almost certainly sailed.By Ian KingCrunch time for both sidesBoth clubs were involved in midweek fixtures, and both had a difficult time of things. City were blown away in a meringue-storm at the Bernabeu courtesy of a hat-trick from Kylian Mbappé, which was all a sharp contrast from the previous weekend’s 4-0 thrashing of Newcastle. And with that result coming off the back of that 5-1 defeat at Arsenal and the first leg of their Champions League play-off, it’s fair to say that City’s recent form has been…patchy.Liverpool made hard work of their rescheduled Premier League game away to Aston Villa, taking the lead before falling 2-1 behind by half-time at Villa Park and ending up hanging on slightly for a 2-2 draw. Following an uninspired performance against Wolves and conceding that late equaliser at Everton, they’ve started to show signs of fallibility of late after a lengthy excellent run from the start of the season. HistoryHistorically speaking, Manchester City do not have a great record in this fixture. It took them eleven goes to record their first win against Liverpool, a 3-2 win at Maine Road on Halloween 1903. Their recent record isn’t so great, either, with just two wins from their last ten meetings, though four of those ten did end in draws. Earlier this season, Liverpool beat them 2-0 at Anfield.Key playersDominik Szoboszlai was a lot of fun at Villa Park on Wednesday night. He’s a player who’s really grown into a role at Anfield, and his link-up play with Mo Salah can be a delight to watch. To the extent that a modern Premier League footballer at a big club can be, he still feels slightly underrated. Injuries mean that the Manchester City team for this match is somewhat uncertain, but a big performance from Phil Foden would certainly do an again beleaguered-looking Pep Guardiola a favour.Team NewsJohn Stones limped out of the Real Madrid game early, while Erling Haaland was left on the bench; both have to be considered doubtful for this game as well. Nathan Aké replaced Stones on Wednesday night and could be back in the team for this game. Cody Gakpo missed the Villa game for Liverpool but could return for this one. Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton are also likely to be missing.PredictionManchester City are capable of putting in a big performance. This much we can say with a degree of certainty; they certainly put one in against Newcastle last weekend. And considering that Liverpool have started to look nervy in their last three straight Premier League games, it could even turn out to be that yesterday’s defeat for Arsenal isn’t too damaging if City can lift themselves out of their torpor and put in a similar performance to last weekend. The uncertainty surrounding both teams lends itself to a 1-1 draw. (Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.Preview: Man City host Liverpool in Sunday headlinerManchester City need three points from their match against Liverpool to retain a Champions League place for next season, even if their title bid has almost certainly sailed.By Ian KingCrunch time for both sidesBoth clubs were involved in midweek fixtures, and both had a difficult time of things. City were blown away in a meringue-storm at the Bernabeu courtesy of a hat-trick from Kylian Mbappé, which was all a sharp contrast from the previous weekend’s 4-0 thrashing of Newcastle. And with that result coming off the back of that 5-1 defeat at Arsenal and the first leg of their Champions League play-off, it’s fair to say that City’s recent form has been…patchy.Liverpool made hard work of their rescheduled Premier League game away to Aston Villa, taking the lead before falling 2-1 behind by half-time at Villa Park and ending up hanging on slightly for a 2-2 draw. Following an uninspired performance against Wolves and conceding that late equaliser at Everton, they’ve started to show signs of fallibility of late after a lengthy excellent run from the start of the season. HistoryHistorically speaking, Manchester City do not have a great record in this fixture. It took them eleven goes to record their first win against Liverpool, a 3-2 win at Maine Road on Halloween 1903. Their recent record isn’t so great, either, with just two wins from their last ten meetings, though four of those ten did end in draws. Earlier this season, Liverpool beat them 2-0 at Anfield.Key playersDominik Szoboszlai was a lot of fun at Villa Park on Wednesday night. He’s a player who’s really grown into a role at Anfield, and his link-up play with Mo Salah can be a delight to watch. To the extent that a modern Premier League footballer at a big club can be, he still feels slightly underrated. Injuries mean that the Manchester City team for this match is somewhat uncertain, but a big performance from Phil Foden would certainly do an again beleaguered-looking Pep Guardiola a favour.Team NewsJohn Stones limped out of the Real Madrid game early, while Erling Haaland was left on the bench; both have to be considered doubtful for this game as well. Nathan Aké replaced Stones on Wednesday night and could be back in the team for this game. Cody Gakpo missed the Villa game for Liverpool but could return for this one. Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton are also likely to be missing.PredictionManchester City are capable of putting in a big performance. This much we can say with a degree of certainty; they certainly put one in against Newcastle last weekend. And considering that Liverpool have started to look nervy in their last three straight Premier League games, it could even turn out to be that yesterday’s defeat for Arsenal isn’t too damaging if City can lift themselves out of their torpor and put in a similar performance to last weekend. The uncertainty surrounding both teams lends itself to a 1-1 draw. (Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.