Manchester City v Liverpool
Premier League
8.00 pm Thursday, January 3rd 2019
Sky Sports

It is nice to look ahead and see just what there is to get excited about over the coming week. There is the one standout sporting matchup that I have to dial straight into. That is, of course, the massive clash from the Etihad in the Premier League on Thursday night between Manchester City and Liverpool. Given the situation at the top of the EPL table, the pressure is huge. This is going to be some match to start the new year and the leading bookmakers have Man City as favourites at even money.

Did the game between them at Anfield earlier this season fail to really live up to its billing? Yes. It was a 0-0 draw and the two sides were both more interested in showing off their respective defensive strengths than anything else. That was important for Manchester City actually under the circumstance. They had struggled to contain a rampant Liverpool attack in both Premier League and Champions League meetings in the previous season. So it was a measured approach that both would have been happy with.

No-lose situation for City

Going into this one though, Manchester City may end up kicking themselves if they only manage a point in the fixture. The home advantage swings to the Citizens who are desperately trying to play catch up to the Reds in the title race. After a massive slump of form during December, the Citizens head into this top clash seven points adrift of league leaders Liverpool. If that gets stretched out to ten, then it’s hard to see City making that kind of ground up over the second half of the season.

City have gone W3 D3 in their last six games but responded on Sunday with a win over Southampton. But they again conceded and that is seven top-flight games now for Pep Guardiola’s men without a clean sheet. They don’t have one in five home games. Where has their defence gone? The last thing you need in taking on Liverpool, is a defence which is unsure of itself. But that is what City have and what they have to deal with. But of course, all teams have their blips and City do still boast a W9 L1 record in ten home games this season, averaging 3.5 goals per fixture.

Liverpool’s perfect balance

Liverpool remain undefeated for the season and they would be laughing all the way back to Anfield on Thursday night if that is still the state of play after this match. The top bookmakers have them at 12/5 odds to land the win. It has been a merry festive period from them having beaten Newcastle 4-0 on Boxing Day and then thumping Arsenal 5-1 at Anfield on Saturday. They were being picked at by pundits earlier in the season for adopting a more conservative outlook. They came out with more emphasis on defence than their all-out gung-ho attack of the previous season.

Boss Jurgen Klopp has gotten that tweak down to perfection now and the Reds are a defensive giant and the goals are starting to flow from them. The balance is just right. They have scored at least three goals in six of their last eight league games now. They have also posted an impressive W8 D2 L0 record away from home so far this season. It’s been all too easy at times for them this season. But if City need hope, the Redshave been held to away draws against Arsenal and Chelsea this season against other current top-four sides.

Who lands the telling blow?

Liverpool also lost heavily in a 5-0 loss at the Etihad in last season’s Premier League fixture. Manchester City know they need to push the case against Liverpool on Thursday. They have to make the most of this chance at home to slash the gap down to four points. The Citizens have to take the game by the scruff of the neck and they have the squad to do it. They play with fine margins at the best of times in terms of boldness and that sometimes leads to their mistakes at the back.

Liverpool are in some tremendous form though and you wonder what their approach will be. Will they be happy enough to just avoid defeat and keep their gap? Or will they be ruthless enough to stand up and drive on for the three points which sees them put one hand on the title? It is a fascinating setup. Nothing is going to change in terms of position at the top. But the points difference at the end of the day could be a huge indicator as to where the title is going to end up.

There is a big week of action for the start of 2019 and you can keep up to date with the latest live bets here