Sport
Man City vs Liverpool line-ups and team news, Alan Shearer makes prediction
Manchester City will look to bounce back to winning ways when they host Premier League leaders Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium today.
City, who were thrashed 2-0 by Liverpool earlier this season at Anfield, exited the Champions League in midweek after falling 3-1 to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. It means they lost their play-off round match 6-3 on aggregate.
Alongside attempting to win the FA Cup, City must now focus on attempting to secure a top four finish and Champions League qualification for next season. Pep Guardiola will want to see a response from his players after they produced such an uninspiring display in the Spanish capital on Wednesday night.
Guardiola has confirmed forward Erling Haaland’s participation in the upcoming match against Arne Slot’s side. However, John Stones’ ailment may require surgery.
The City manager is poised to start Ederson in goal as he attempts to keep consecutive Premier League clean sheets for the first time this season. He will also be trying to record his third assist in as many league appearances.
Ahead of the Brazilian, Guardiola has a big decision to make at right-back. Abdukodir Khusanov struggled against Madrid and it feels only right that City should deploy an out-and-out right-back in that role, meaning Rico Lewis could be recalled.
Stones’ absence means Nathan Ake could be recalled to the starting XI and operate as the left-sided centre-back, meaning Ruben Dias may shuffle across to the right. Josko Gvardiol is the most likely candidate to occupy the lefty-back berth.
The only positive of any note in Madrid was that January signing Nico Gonzalez netted his first goal for the club, although it meant nothing in the grand scheme of either the game or the tie. He is likely to retain his place at the base of the midfield and could be supported in the engine room by Mateo Kovacic, who could provide some much needed balance.
In terms of the offensive trio behind the striker, Savinho might play on the right while Phil Foden could start on the left. Kevin De Bruyne might be reinstated and play for the first time since starting the 3-2 defeat to Madrid at the Etihad a little less than a fortnight ago.
Despite being in contention, it remains unclear whether Haaland will be fit enough to start. With that said, Omar Marmoush might be chosen to lead the queue.
City predicted XI vs Liverpool: Ederson; Lewis, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Gonzalez, Kovacic; Savinho, De Bruyne, Foden; Marmoush.
Alan Shearer does not expect Manchester City to recover quickly from their Champions League defeat at the hands of Real Madrid.
Pep Guardiola’s exiting Premier League champions face leaders Liverpool on Sunday afternoon as bookies’ underdogs. And Match of the Day commentator Shearer believes City will struggle if centre backs John Stones and Erling Haaland are sidelined due to injuries.
Newcastle United legend Shearer does reckon City will find the net but believes they will cough up too many chances to Mohamed Salah and company.
“This is a tough game to call. I think that if John Stones is injured and also Erling Haaland then I’m not convinced City can bounce back,” he told Betfair.
“They battered Newcastle and rightly so, but I still think that they’ve got big issues in that team defensively, so I am going to go for an away win to Liverpool.
“I know Liverpool are giving away chances as well, they are giving teams a little bit of hope, so I do think that Man City may score.
“But I just think that Man City, with the way they are defensively, Liverpool will score more.”
Guardiola, whose only remaining goal for the season is to secure a spot in next season’s Champions League, has conceded the title but believes his squad can beat Liverpool in a one-game match.
The Catalan said: “I don’t think we’re in a bad moment – apart from Madrid, who are a better team right now. The priority, the Premier League, is massively important for us and we did good games.
“Even when we lost 5-1 against Arsenal I would say we played a really good 60 minutes. Except the first five, when we conceded the goal and gave away another chance, the rest was good. In other games, for example Newcastle, we have been at a high level.
“We will try to play a good game and take the points that we need to stay up there to qualify for next season to be where we were until last Wednesday.
“But Liverpool are a top team in many aspects. They lost just one game in the Premier League. That’s why it’s a good test for us.”
