The first international break since the winter World Cup has concluded and the Premier League is treating fans with a clash of the titans in the first match back. The reigning champions welcome last year’s runner-up on April 1, as Manchester City hosts Liverpool in what has been a modern classic. In order to narrow the eight-point gap between them and league leaders Arsenal, The Citizens must overcome their only domestic contemporary of the previous half a decade. Continue reading to see Last Word on Football’s Manchester City predicted lineup.
Manchester City Predicted Lineup vs Liverpool
Manchester City Tactics This Season
Pep Guardiola has mixed things up this season. The world-renowned manager pioneered the 4-3-3 at Barcelona and has had much success with the same formation at Manchester City. With the introduction of Haaland, Pep has been more experimental, utilizing a variety of formations all season. In their previous two matches, The Citizens rolled out a 3-2-4-1. These matches were against RB Leipzig and Burnley, respectively. This formation was also utilized previously against Bournemouth, Bristol City, and Nottingham Forest, to name a few.
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When facing more fierce competition, Guardiola has engineered a more defensive shape, when compared to the aforementioned lineups. The chosen formation against sides like Newcastle, Crystal Palace, and Tottenham has been a 4-2-3-1. The idea for the Spaniard in both these formations is to control the pace of play in the midfield while maintaining width in attack. This width opens channels for midfielders to come in while also creating mismatches in the box for Haaland.
City Recent Form
The Citizens have emerged victorious in each of their previous six matches across all competitions. The blue side of Manchester has also not conceded a goal in five consecutive matches. Their goal differential in this six-game window is 23-1.
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City has not had much success against Klopp in recent years. Considering both sides are chasing two opposite outcomes for their current seasons, it is natural to think that Guardiola and his men would be more dominant in the current campaign. That is not the case. Liverpool has already won two of the three meetings this season, one of those being a 3-2 EFL Cup fourth-round victory.
Manchester City Injuries to Consider
There are major concerns in this department for the home side. Their dynamic duo, Haaland and Foden have been plagued with recent injuries, which is terrifying news for City fans.
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The Norwegian superstar, once dubbed “Phenomenal” by The Athletic, pulled out of the Norway squad during the international break due to a groin injury, meaning his status for Saturday’s match is uncertain. Foden, on the other hand, is ruled out for at least four weeks after going under the knife for appendix surgery last weekend.
Manchester City Predicted Lineup
Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Ake, De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan, Bernardo, Haaland, Grealish
