LIVERPOOL VS. MANCHESTER CITY

| Saturday, November 4th |
Premier League | Anfield
3:30PM GMT/11:30AM EST

Gird your loins, Reds. Manchester City are visiting Anfield on Sunday, and Liverpool will try to stop hemorrhaging points in the league against the title holders. Over the last decade or so, Liverpool vs. Manchester City has been one of the biggest, if not the biggest, match on the Premier League calendar.

However, amidst the Reds’ poor form and injury crisis, they’ll plummeted into the bottom half of the table after the first eight games. There’s still a long road ahead, but if Liverpool have any hope of digging themselves out of this hole, they’ll have to start putting together performances that looked more like their 7-1 victory over Rangers in midweek than their 3-2 loss against Arsenal last weekend.

If they are going to pull out a victory, they’ll have to do it without Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Díaz, both of whom have joined Liverpool’s intimidatingly long injury list. Joe Gomez could take over Trent’s spot, while manager Jürgen Klopp will likely field a front three consisting of hat trick hero Mohamed Salah, Darwin Núñez, and either Diogo Jota or Roberto Firmino. Firmino scored a brace himself against Rangers, but his inclusion in that game probably means Klopp intends Jota for the match on Sunday.

For Manchester City, Erling Haaland will be available after sitting out their Champions League match in midweek. So. That’ll be fun. City is on a three game winning streak, though lost points against Aston Villa and Newcastle away from home mean that they currently sit in second behind Arsenal. Perhaps their lapses away from home and their 0-0 draw with Copenhagen will be the psychological edge that Liverpool need to pull out a victory.

Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)

Alisson; Gomez, Konaté, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago; Salah, Núñez, Jota

Alexander-Arnold and Díaz are out injured along with Naby Keïta, Arthur Melo, Joël Matip, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

For Manchester City, Guardiola has a much healthier team to choose from with only John Stones, Kalvin Phillips and Kyle Walker unavailable.

What the Managers Had to Say

Jurgen Klopp: “Then when have to cheeky, be flexible, pass the ball. We played a good game v Rangers. Harvey and Fabio were really flexible. Both 6s did really well. That’s what you have to do - pass the ball around and let the opposition defend as well.”

Pep Guardiola: “You have to behave at top top level, especially off the ball, for second balls many many things. At Anfield, winning or losing we always play with big personality.”

The Officials

Referee: Anthony Taylor Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn. Fourth official: Andy Madley. VAR: Darren England. Assistant VAR: Simon Bennett.

Kickoff is set for 4:30PM GMT/11:30AM EST tomorrow. Stick with The Liverpool Offside team to keep yourself up to date with team news and match buildup, live updates, and post-match reaction. If you want to join the discussion, sign up for an SB Nation account and have your say on the action as it happens.