On November 25, Liverpool will make the short trip across the north of England to face Manchester City. The match will take place at 12:30 pm (GMT), at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola’s side currently sit top of the table, with the visitors just one point behind. This is the Liverpool predicted lineup.
Liverpool Predicted Lineup vs Manchester City in Battle for First Place
Tomorrow… WE'RE BACK ✊🔴 pic.twitter.com/jZY74XJIX6
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 24, 2023
How Liverpool Have Lined-up Recently
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk are obvious starters, whilst Joël Matip and Kostas Tsimikas have featured recently following various injuries to starting defenders – such as Ibrahima Konaté.
Read More: Liverpool Linked To Highly Rated Brazilian By Fabrizio Romano
Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister have been constants in midfield. Ryan Gravenberch had cemented his place in the lineup, but Wataru Endo replaced the Dutchman against Brentford due to injury.
Darwin Núñez has solidified his position as striker, starting the last three Premier League (PL) games up front. Mohamed Salah has played on the right, and Diogo Jota has played on the left (with Luis Díaz dealing with personal matters).
Watch: Manchester City facing relegation following Everton verdict?
Liverpool’s Recent Form and Tactics
Liverpool’s recent form has been patchy, to say the least. Their last five matches both began and ended with a 3-0 victory at Anfield: most recently against Brentford, and against Nottingham Forest last month. In between these games were three, relatively favourable, away fixtures.
The Reds beat Bournemouth in the EFL Cup but were dominated by the Cherries in the second half – advancing thanks to a Núñez wondergoal. Then came a 1-1 draw to Luton in the league, courtesy of a 95th minute Díaz header. Finally, the Merseyside outfit lost 3-2 at Toulouse in the Europa League.
There is a clear issue with Liverpool’s away form. Their past three results demonstrate this: a tough win, a draw, and a loss, – each against inferior opposition. In fact, Jürgen Klopp’s side have just two PL wins away from home this campaign. On the contrary, they have a perfect record at home: six wins from six at Anfield. Potentially, the impact of playing on both a Thursday night and the weekend (coupled with travelling to an away fixture) may be impacting the team’s performance.
Read More: Fabrizio Romano Reveals Liverpool Current Stance On Signing ‘Incredible’ Midfielder
Another issue, particularly prominent in the three recent away matches, is a lack of clinical finishing. The draw at Luton is the perfect example: possessing 74% of the ball and creating 2.85 expected goals (XG). Six big chances were missed, and as a result, two points were dropped – which could’ve easily been three. In fact, across the season, the Reds have almost perfectly matched their XG: 27 goals to 26.9 expected. Meanwhile, City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Aston Villa, and Newcastle have all over-performed their XG by at least three goals. Clearly finishing, particularly for Núñez, is a factor in their fluctuating form.
Liverpool Injuries to Consider
Joe Gomez, Curtis Jones, Gravenberch, and Konaté were all absent in the Brentford game prior to the international break. When asked about the quartet in Friday’s press conference, Klopp revealed that “only the long-term absentees are still out”.
Gravenberch in particular, a new summer signing, will be an important asset, as the match will almost certainly be defined in the centre of the pitch: City’s most important player is arguably Rodri in central midfield.
Andy Robertson remains out until the New Year. Tsimikas should fill the left-back spot, but there is a possibility of Gomez playing there.
Read More: 17-Year-Old ‘Secret Weapon’ To Start: Liverpool Predicted Lineup Vs Toulouse
Thiago Alcântara and Stefan Bajcetic have been out for months and continue to recover.
Díaz hasn’t started in the league since October (for obvious reasons) but did start twice for Colombia in the break. Like Alisson, he played in South America on Wednesday morning and so may be fatigued.
Some may expect Núñez to also be rested, playing on the same day as the aforementioned duo in South America. However, Klopp responded by saying “we want to use him as often as possible”. It would be a surprise to see the Uruguayan rested, considering his recent impact and partnership with Salah.
Mac Allister returns from serving a one-match suspension for accumulating five yellow cards.
Liverpool Predicted Lineup
GK: Alisson Becker
LB: Kostas Tsimikas
CB: Virgil van Dijk
CB: Ibrahima Konaté
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold
CM: Ryan Gravenberch
CM: Alexis Mac Allister
CM: Dominik Szoboszlai
LW: Diogo Jota
ST: Darwin Núñez
RW: Mohamed Salah
