PREDICTION: GUIDE Manchester City vs Liverpool

By Joshua Walters

Manchester City and Liverpool goes head-to-head at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday night in a game that has the potential to decide the direction of the 2018/19 Premier League title.

Liverpool top the league table with 54 points as Manchester City are 3rd with 47 points, and with Liverpool still unbeaten after 20 games, it may be very difficult for the Citizens to catch up with the Reds should they drop points today and the former continue on their impressive run in the coming games.

The game represents the first for Pep Guardiola’s Citizens and Jurgen Klopp’s Reds this year, but the second this year between the two sides after playing out a barren drawn game in the reverse fixture in October last year at Anfield.

Both sides were unbeaten then with Manchester City atop the table, but times have changed and the Sea Blue shirted men have slipped to 3rd place after two straight defeats to Crystal Palace and Leicester City allowing Liverpool to leapfrog them and also open a seven-point gap at the top.

Liverpool are undoubtedly one of the best performers in the league this season likewise Manchester City who on a good day could be likened to Spain’s Barcelona, and that makes it difficult for predictors to pick one side out by just looking at performance.

Liverpool have not conceded more than a goal in the league this season and have a goal record of an average of three goals per match and 12 clean sheets thus far.

But Liverpool’s performance at the Etihad has not been too good in recent years, and their record of one win, five losses, two draws and eight conceded goals in their last five Premier League visits could provide a clue for predictors of the game.

The two sides share something in common and that is in how they win games.

Whereas Liverpool have turned four six half-time draws into wins, Manchester City have also done the same twice out of five games, and that also leaves predictors in dilemma in predicting the period of time that tonight’s game could be won and the direction it would be.

Predictors, who make their picks based on the quality of players of the two contesting teams, can bank on Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling, who will be looking to perform against his former club, Liverpool, and Kevin De Bruyne who is a doubt for the game following an injury scare against Southampton.

Liverpool, on the other hand, also have the men to equal that scare and their deadly front-three of Mohamed Salah, who has 13 goals and seven assists in 20 games, Sadio Mane, who is always a handful for his markers, and the predatory Firmino comes to mind.

Jürgen Klopp holds the upper hand in the head-to-head count with Pep Guardiola having won eight times, drawn twice and lost five times against the Spaniard.

But, what will attract the world's eye will be the battle between the two Brazilians, Liverpool's Alisson Becker, who is the first choice goalkeeper for the country's national team, and his deputy, Ederson, of Manchester City.