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Liverpool vs Manchester City Odds & Prediction – Premier League Round 7

Paul Attfield

By Paul Attfield in Soccer News

Published:


Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates with Sadio Mane, right, after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League group B soccer match between FC Porto and Liverpool at the Dragao stadium in Porto, Portugal, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)
  • Winners of the past four EPL titles meet for the first time this season on Sunday morning
  • Liverpool is the only remaining unbeaten team in the Premier League
  • Read on for betting odds, a full preview and the best bet for this heavyweight EPL clash

With Liverpool and Manchester City combining to win each of the four English Premier League titles, with both separated by just one point in the early running of this season’s title race, there’s always much on the line when these two heavyweights lock horns. The pair go again Sunday morning at 11:30 a.m. ET, with head coaches Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola having spent countless hours scheming to get one over on their rival.

The clashes between the pair almost always plays an integral part in the title race, and certainly headlines all the EPL games taking place this weekend.

Liverpool vs Manchester City Odds

Matchup Spread Moneyline Total
Liverpool vs Manchester City LIV +0.5 (-165) | MAN -0.5 (+145) LIV +185 | MAN +145 | DRAW +260 Ov 2.5 (-150) | Un 2.5 (+120)

Odds as of October 2 at DraftKings

The Tactical Battle

With both clubs being run by two of the best in the business, this match will seen as very much a chess match being controlled by two of the sport’s grandmasters. Sunday’s match marks the 22nd time that Klopp and Guardiola will have pitted teams against each other, with the two first going head-to-head when Klopp was in charge of Borussia Dortmund and Guardiola helming Bayern Munich.

The 22 games are the most that Guardiola has opposed any other coach except Jose Mourinho, and the results have so far been very much split down the middle. Since their very first encounter, when Klopp steered Dortmund to a 4-2 win in the German Super Cup, there has been nothing to separate the two, with each having won nine, lost nine and drawn three.

Liverpool’s Offensive Juggernaut

After six rounds of the Premier League season, no team had scored more goals than Klopp’s 19-time English champions. Averaging 2.5 goals per game in the EPL, not to mention the other eight goals Liverpool has scored over the first two rounds of the Champions League, Liverpool is in midseason form in front of goal. In fact, only twice in nine games has Liverpool scored less than three goals, and it has not yet been shut out.

Naturally, Mohammad Salah has led the way, with eight goals in eight games, but he’s been ably abetted by the other members of that strike force, with Sadio Mane, Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino adding another 10 goals between them.

City’s Defensive Wall

While City are no slouches offensively, with 12 goals in the EPL and another 12 in Champions League and the Carabao Cup combined, but it is their defensive solidity which is their calling card. That was never more firmly on display that in last weekend’s 1-0 win at Chelsea, when City restricted the European champions to just four shots, none of which were on target.

Consequently, the reigning English champions have conceded just one goal through six games, which means they are performing even better than the statistics suggest. Manchester City has an expected goals (xGA) against of 3.0, with that figure being more than twice as good as any other contending team at the sharp end of the league table.

Liverpool vs Manchester City Key Stats

Liverpool
VS
Manchester City
4-0-2 EPL Record 4-1-1
15 Goals For 12
4 Goals Against 1
16.9 Expected Goals 13.9
7.0 Expected Goals Against 3.0
WDWWD EPL Form This Season WWWDW

City’s Breakthrough Win

Manchester City’s 4-1 triumph at Anfield in January was both their last visit and their first win in 18 years at the famed home of Liverpool FC. While Guardiola will dearly love to replicate that scoreline, he will have to do so without Ilkay Gundogan, who scored two of the goals that day, but who will miss this game through a groin injury. Oleksandr Zinchenko is also missing due to a calf injury.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Ps_F019yU

Liverpool are missing the trio of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago and Harvey Elliott through injury, but will be hoping to post a first win against City since they won 3-1 here in November, 2019. However, that result is the only blemish from City’s perspective in the past seven encounters, with City enjoying a 4-1-2 record over that span.

While both teams are flying high in the EPL, they come into this match off of very different results in the Champions League. Liverpool trounced Porto 5-1 in midweek, while Guardiola was outmatched by Lionel Messi and Paris St-Germain in a 2-0 defeat.

Best bet: Draw +260

Paul Attfield
Paul Attfield

Sports Writer

For the last 20 years, Paul Attfield has worked in sports media. Starting out in his native Britain with the likes of The Independent, he eventually switched continents, with his work appearing in the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Yahoo Sports since.

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