Manchester City vs Liverpool Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

This is expected to be a closely-fought encounter between Manchester City and Liverpool, despite there being a 17 point gap between the two this campaign.

Liverpool have not won a game at the Etihad Stadium since their 2-1 Champions League quarter-final second leg win all the way back in 2018, while their last league victory at City was against then-Manuel Pellegrini’s side in November 2015.

Despite this season being regarded as a poor one for Manchester City, they have lost just two home league matches, having won eight and drawn the other two of their 12 games at the Etihad Stadium this campaign. City come up against a Liverpool side that have started to falter of late, as Arne Slot’s men have won just three of their last seven games, meaning that we can see this being an even contest.

Prediction: Manchester City 1-1 Liverpool

Manchester City hosts Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium in a battle between fourth and first-places in the Premier League.

Date: 23/02/2025

Location: Etihad Stadium

Time: 4:30pm

The last head-to-head meeting between these two teams was back in December, where Liverpool emerged as 2-0 victors at Anfield thanks to goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah.

City will be keen to impress in front of their home fans having suffered a dismal 6-3 aggregate Champions League defeat to Real Madrid in the Round of 32, having been simply outclassed by the wealth of superstars that the 15-times Champions of Europe have at their disposal.

During their game in midweek, Pep Guardiola rested the likes of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, perhaps showing that the Spaniard was already looking ahead to this weekend’s game against Liverpool, as the Sky Blues sit fourth in the Premier League standings, three points behind third-place Nottingham Forest, but, just two points above seventh-place Newcastle, as they have managed just 44 points from 25 matches.

The only way that City can salvage what has been a below par campaign is via a strong finish to the league season, while trying to win the FA Cup for the second time in three seasons, having been drawn up to play Plymouth Argyle in the Fifth Round of that competition.

On the other hand, Arne Slot’s side have looked unstoppable at times this season, as they sit eight points clear of Arsenal heading into this weekend’s fixtures, however, they have now played one more game than the Gunners following their 2-2 draw with Aston Villa in midweek.

Liverpool have already made the final of the League Cup this season where they’ll face Newcastle United, however, they have recently suffered a humiliating 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Plymouth Argyle at Home Park. They are yet to learn their opposition in the Champions League’s Round of 16 having topped the Group Stage itself in impressive fashion with 21 points from seven games.

The Reds will know that every time they drop points, that Arsenal will be gaining confidence, as crucially, Mikel Arteta’s men can move within five points of Liverpool due to their game in hand, however, another slip-up at the Etihad Stadium would leave the door wide open for the Gunners as they still have to travel to Anfield on 10th May.

Manchester City versus Liverpool will be shown live to UK subscribers of Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Ultra HD, Sky Go and Now TV.

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola will definitely be without Manuel Akanji and Rodri due to injury, while John Stones could also be a fitness doubt for Sunday’s clash with Liverpool.

Liverpool

Joe Gomez and Cody Gakpo are Liverpool’s only injury doubts for their trip to the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City

City enter this game with just two wins from their last five matches, having suffered a heavy 5-1 away defeat at Arsenal at that start of this sequence, before beating Leyton Orient 2-1 in the FA Cup thanks to goals by Rico Lewis and Kevin De Bruyne.

As previously mentioned, Guardiola’s side were thrashed 6-3 on aggregate by reigning European champions Real Madrid, having suffered a 3-2 home defeat and 3-1 away loss on either side of what looked like a confidence-boosting 4-0 victory over Newcastle where January signing Omar Marmoush bagged a hat-trick while James McAtee also got on the scoresheet.

Liverpool

Liverpool also head into this showdown with just two wins from their last five matches, as following their superb 4-0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final, they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle at Home Park as Ryan Hardie scored the only goal of the game in the 53rd-minute.

Since then, Arne Slot’s side have drawn 2-2 with both Everton and Aston Villa on either side of a narrow 2-1 home win against Wolverhampton Wanderers where both Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah got on the scoresheet before Matheus Cunha halved the deficit mid-way through the second half.

Throughout the 2024/25 season, you can find our Prediction content here, with expert analysis via our team at Footy Accumulators. On top of this, we provide free exclusive betting tips and markets that run throughout the week that could also be of interest:

• Accumulator Tips
• Bet of the Day
• Both Teams to Score Tips
• Treble Tips
• RequestABets
• BuildABet Tips
• Smart Acca Tips
• Other Tips