MatchThe opposition lowdown: Manchester City

Recent form

City claimed a 4-0 home victory over Newcastle United last time out in top-flight action, making it 10 points from their last five league games.

They were, however, beaten 3-1 by Real Madrid in midweek at the Bernabeu, exiting the Champions League as a result of a 6-3 aggregate defeat.

Pep Guardiola's team begin the weekend fourth in the league standings with 44 points after 25 matches, three behind third-placed Nottingham Forest.

Key men

In the league, Erling Haaland has been City's main threat in front of goal, netting 19 times this season alongside his three assists.

Phil Foden has also struck seven times with two assists, while defender Josko Gvardiol has proved a threat in the opposition box with five goals to his name.

Savinho has been a key creator with seven Premier League assists, ahead of Kevin De Bruyne (six) and Bernardo Silva, Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunez (four each).

January signing Omar Marmoush also struck a hat-trick in the hosts' last game in the division.

Team news

Haaland is being assessed ahead of the Reds' visit to see whether he is able to secure inclusion in the hosts' matchday squad.

However, defenders Manuel Akanji and John Stones will miss the contest, alongside long-term absentees Rodri and Oscar Bobb.

Previous meeting

Liverpool overcame City at Anfield with a 2-0 victory in the last Premier League meeting between the two teams.

Cody Gakpo was on target in the opening half of the December fixture, and Mohamed Salah's converted penalty 12 minutes from time clinched three points.

What they said

City head coach Guardiola

"We are in a not bad moment. Apart from Madrid, who were the better team and are a better team right now. I had the feeling in recent years in the Champions League we can compete with any team. Always we were there.

"In previous seasons against that team - we feel it, they feel it - we were there and, in many aspects, better than them. This time we couldn't go through and we accept the reality.

"Look at the situations now with two central defenders out for two months. This period in the Premier League is now massively important for us.

"In the Premier League we have done good, good games. Even when we lost 5-1 against Arsenal but we played very well for 60 minutes. The rest we were not stable. In other games, like Newcastle, we played with high quality.

"The games are different, strength of the opponent is different. We need to try to stay there and qualify next season for where we were on Wednesday."

Pre-match stats

• City have lost just one of their last 15 Premier League home games against Liverpool (eight wins, six draws), losing 4-1 in November 2015 under Manuel Pellegrini.
• Following their 2-0 win at Anfield in December, Liverpool are looking to complete the Premier League double over City for just the third time (also 2005-06 and 2015-16).
• City's 4-0 victory over Newcastle was their first Premier League game this season in which they didn't face a single big chance, while their xG faced of 0.48 was their third-lowest in a game in 2024-25.
• In just six Premier League matches in 2025, City have scored 20 goals from only 81 shots, a league-high conversion rate of 24.7 per cent this calendar year.