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One of the central matches of the entire 2020/21 England Championship, strategically and tactically the most important matchup. The two main contenders for the championship will play against each other, despite the fact that Man City is 11th and five points behind Liverpool, everyone understands that Guardiola’s team will catch up sooner or later. The only question is whether Merseysides will allow the townspeople to start catching up early, or will City stay longer in the middle of the rankings.
APL. The eighth round
Stadium: Etihad Stadium (Manchester)
Head Judge: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
Manchester city 18:30 Liverpool
TV broadcast on the channel “Setanta”
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Manchester City have not lost since September 27, following a humiliating 2-5 loss at Leicester. The “people of the town” have a successful streak of eight games, in which only two draws with five wins. In the last round, Guardiola’s team beat Sheffield United by a minimum of 1-0. And also in the middle of the week, the Mancunians in the Champions League defeated Olympiacos 3: 0.
Little by little, the runner-up is gaining good form, maybe not as much as a year ago, but the “townspeople” seem more and more confident. City’s failures include draws with West Ham and Leeds (both times 1: 1), although Guardiola’s men were significantly dominant in those games as well. Liverpool will definitely not let them dominate, and nothing about the match being held at Etihad.
In the last five games, the Reds won exclusively, with a total score of 12: 3. In the Champions League, the strong Atalanta fell 0: 5 (the game was played on Tuesday), and in the championship Lersisides beat West Ham 2: 1. Liverpool have a certain margin of safety and, it seems, the champion returns to his victorious path.
What Man City and Liverpool have in common at the moment is the Reds’ latest defeat, also devastating and unexpected. We all remember that in early October, Aston Villa gave Lersisides a “magic banner” (7: 2) and since then everything has gone much better. In fact, so far this is the only loss for Klopp’s team this season, except for the two lost penalties to Arsenal, in the Super Cup and the League Cup.
Last season, Man City and Liverpool traded victories at home. In November 2019, the Lersisides at Anfield beat City 3-1: the goals were scored by Fabinho, Salah, Mane and Bernardo Silva. In July of this year the last meeting of the teams took place, which decided nothing from the point of view of the tournament. “Liverpool” was actually the champion, and the “townspeople” were able to come out in that duel – 4: 0. De Bruyne, Foden, Sterling and Oxlade-Chamberlain scored goals.
We also noticed that recently, “Liverpool” beat “Man City” in their field, although not in the championship, in the Champions League. In 2018, goals from Salah and Firmino brought success to the Lersisiders, the hosts have a goal on Jesus’ account.
STATISTICS
A total of 187 games were played;
47 Man City wins, 49 draws, 91 Liverpool wins
Total score – 247: 329
REFERENCE COMPOSITION
Both teams have losses, sadly the stronger ones cannot play. Mendy and Fernandinho will definitely not help Man City, and Agüero has problems too. Liverpool have injured Oxlade-Chamberlain, Fabinho, van Dijk and Alcantara. Another thing is that there is someone to replace these players, the personnel potential is very high among the giants. Zinchenko is unlikely to play in this match, Guardiola uses the Ukrainian in the Champions League, he played the more than 90 minutes of the match with Olympiacos, so Oleksandr will not participate in the eighth round.
Liverpool: Alison, Gomez, Robertson, Phillips, Alexander-Arnold, Veynaldum, Jones, Henderson, Firmino, Mane, Salah.
City of Manchester: Ederson, Walker, Diaz, Ake, Cancello, Sterling, Rodri, Silva, Foden, Gundogan, Marez.
FORECAST
Each of the teams will alternately take the initiative, perhaps the hosts will try to act more aggressively in the opening, but then the guests must level the game, Liverpool never play without the ball for long. In theory, a draw can suit teams, but this is not at all like a champion, however, the last three Premier League titles were played between Liverpool and Man City, they became main rivals and will try to win in a hand-to-hand duel. But it is difficult to choose a favorite, peace and the preservation of the status quo still seem to be the most likely outcome of the meeting. Forecast: draw 1: 1.
