West Ham peg Southampton back to grab draw at St Mary’s

Abraham Smith

LIVERPOOL – Liverpool host Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday as two heavyweights collide in this meeting of a different mood.

STREAM LIVE LIVERPOOL vs. MANCHESTER CITY

Jurgen Klopp’s side are 14 points off the top of the table this weekend as this marks their worst start to the season ever under the German manager as he has already ruled them out of the title race. Last weekend Klopp celebrated his seventh anniversary at Liverpool but they lost 3-2 at Arsenal and lost three other key players to injuries. However, the 7-1 win against Rangers in midweek’s UEFA Champions League showed just how dangerous the Reds can be when everything goes right.

Pep Guardiola’s City are looking incredibly strong so far this season as they are the only PL side to go unbeaten and they are a point behind Arsenal in first place. They have reached the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League with two group games remaining and even rested Tormaschine Erling Haaland in midweek to prepare for this big clash. Having won four of the last five Premier League titles on offer (passing Liverpool by just a point last season) it already looks like City’s league is on the verge of losing as that dynasty grew even stronger over the summer.

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Here’s everything you need for Liverpool vs Manchester City.

How to watch Liverpool vs Manchester City live, stream link and start time

Kickoff: Sunday, 11:30 a.m. ET
TV Channel: USA Network
Online: Stream via NBCSports.com

Live Analysis Liverpool vs. Manchester City! – By Joe Prince-Wright at Anfield

Jurgen Klopp is sent off!

Brilliant clearance from Van Dijk while Haaland is close to heading home. Man City are now throwing everything to Liverpool.

Anfield absolutely jumps!

GOALLLL! Liverpool ahead! Alisson’s long kick forward finds Salah after Joao Cancelo failed to clear and Salah completed superbly. Anfield erupts. 1-0 to Liverpool! This feels like a HUGE moment of the season for Liverpool.

Salah just lures you wide at one end while Haaland is denied by Alisson at the other. It’s getting very tense now.

CHAOSSSS! At first Foden thought he gave City a 1-0 lead but referee Anthony Taylor went to the monitor after VAR told him to review a foul by Erling Haaland on Fabinho… THEN Liverpool break and Jota is the post if he should meet …. THEN Pep Guardiola comes around the City bench with the Liverpool fans and goads them on…. THEN it looks like a few things are being thrown at Pep and his staff. This is wild. How is it still 0-0!?

What a start to the second half!

HALFTIME: Liverpool 0-0 Manchester City – That was a very good watch. The 45 minutes flew by. Opportunities on both sides. Haaland had a couple of chances towards the end of the half but Liverpool were solid enough and looked dangerous at the break. So far so good for Jürgen Klopp’s team.

CHANCE! Kevin de Bruyne slices in a nice cross for Erling Haaland but his header goes straight for Alisson. He had to generate his own power to do it, but he’ll still think he should have scored.

The game is now open. Elliott almost got in on one end and then Foden was brought in but he dallyed on the ball when he should have fired his shot. Haaland has a head over it. It’s bubbling up here…

ABOVE! Good ball from Milner, which Ederson deflects while Jota lurks, then Robertson drills the rebound just over. There is a positive vibe here at Anfield as the home fans roar in approval. Robertson is angry with himself. He should have hit the target there.

This is a really odd formation from Manchester City. Seems they play a 3-1-3-3 sometimes. Gundogan plays very high and Bernardo Silva much lower than usual.

CHANCE! First big chance of the game and Diogo Jota heads on target, but it goes straight for Ederson.

Liverpool started well and tried to push back Manchester City. This game has yet to get going.

KICKING OFF: What an atmosphere here. We’re out here at Anfield. Milner at right-back for Liverpool with Fabinho, Elliott and Thiago in central midfield. Gundogan plays in a very advanced role just below Haaland.

It’s noisy here today.

Team news is out and it looks like Fabinho could be at centre-back or James Milner at right-back as Liverpool try to cope with their defensive injury woes. Cancelo looks set to play right back, with Akanji and Dias at centre-back and Gundogan in midfield.

Hello and welcome to a beautiful early autumn day here at Anfield!

Important storylines

Liverpool are buoyed by the Rangers’ pounding but Klopp’s side give up huge chances in every game they play and the balance is completely out of whack. Especially in midfield and in defence. Players like Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson look far from there, while Mohamed Salah hasn’t scored in his last five PL games. Klopp hopes Salah’s incredible six-minute hat-trick (a Champions League record) at Rangers will get his season underway. With injuries piling up and the formation changing, it will be a very difficult task for a Liverpool side who seem to be simultaneously questioning their tactics, skill and cohesion.

Man City are looking pretty unstoppable at the moment with Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden and Haaland taking the lead. They have wonderful squad depth all over the pitch and Guardiola rotates his team skillfully. After that game at Anfield they expect to win pretty much all their remaining PL matches before the World Cup break and that should put them back at the top of the table. City are five-game unbeaten against Liverpool and unbeaten in their last 22 PL away games and are unbeaten in the league for almost eight months. A real Moloch chugs along well.

In-form players to watch

Liverpool’s Mo Salah will fly at Rangers after that incredible hat-trick but it’s Roberto Firmino that City will have to watch out for. The Brazilian has become a forgotten man in Liverpool’s attack following the arrivals of Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez in the last two transfer windows. However, Firmino has scored eight goals in 12 games this season and has six goals in the PL. He only scored five PL goals last season. Diogo Jota also assisted in all three of Salah’s goals midweek and is looking really good now after injuries marred his start to the season, while Nunez has scored two of his last two goals.

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland is on course to score 63 Premier League goals this season (the record in a 38-game season stands at 32) and he has netted 20 goals in 13 games in all competitions. Enough said. Kevin de Bruyne leads the Premier League with assists (nine) and scored home and away goals against Liverpool last season. At the other end, Ederson has the most clean sheets (five) in the Premier League as Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji both came in and looked very good in defence.

Liverpool team news, injuries, lineup options

Luis Diaz, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip are absent, while Arthur Melo is also absent. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and Curtis Jones are also doubtful as they continue to recover. The good news is that Andy Robertson is back on the left, which is a huge boost. Klopp has almost opted for a 4-2-4 formation in recent weeks, but it looks like he will switch back to his 4-3-3 formation for this formation, with Joe Gomez at right back, Henderson , Thiago and Fabinho in midfield and Salah, Firmino and Jota in attack.

Manchester City squad news, injuries, line-up options

Kalvin Phillips, John Stones and Kyle Walker are absent for City, meaning Joao Cancelo is likely to start at right-back, Nathan Ake possibly at left-back and Manuel Akanji and Ruben Dias at centre-back. In midfield, Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva will certainly start and it could be Grealish alongside Foden and Haaland in attack.

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