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Pep Guardiola Man City

Liverpool head to the Etihad this weekend to take on Man City and this is going to be the game that could decide the Premier League champions for this season.

Liverpool are just one point behind the league leaders so a win on Sunday will help them claim the top spot on the table and as per Michael Owen, his former side should be able to knick this one.

He wrote on BetVictor: “I thought City played well against Atletico in midweek, it’s obviously never easy or particularly enjoyable playing against Simeone’s side.

“However, I think City aren’t quite firing on all cylinders in the final third, they haven’t been as prolific of late.

It was a good game in Lisbon against Benfica and Liverpool probably deserved that 3-1 win. It was probably an ideal warm up game for Liverpool, Benfica tried to take the game to them.

“I’ve been saying it since he signed, Luis Diaz belongs in this side. He’s given this side even more threat and I wouldn’t be shocked at all if he played a big part in this one.

“This game could go either way, but I’m going for Liverpool. I think they’re going into this with a bit more momentum than City and they have a little bit more attacking spark and threat. 2-1 to Liverpool!”

Can Liverpool pick up a win against Man City at the Etihad?

Man City have kept 18 clean sheets in the Premier League this season which is the same number of clean sheets that Liverpool have in the league. Also, Liverpool have netted 77 league goals while Manchester City are not far behind with 70.

This clearly shows what an evenly matched contest this is going to be but we think it’s Manchester City who have the slight edge because of three main reasons.

The first one is that they will be playing at home and at the Etihad, Man City are a proper force to reckon with. They will have the crowd to back them up and this could turn out to be a deciding factor on Sunday.

Also, Man City picked up a really good 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid last weekend so they will be very well versed in how to break down a sturdy defence. They have sharpened their knives against an ultra-defensive Atleti side so we believe it will be much easier for Guardiola’s side to work around Liverpool’s defence.

Lastly, Liverpool have one of the best defensive and attacking lineups in Europe but Man City have a far superior midfield so the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva could eventually dictate the play and help decide the outcome on Sunday.

Players like Naby Keita and Henderson have been hit and miss this season so they will have to pull up their socks if they wish to match up with their City counterparts.

Read: 4-3-3 Liverpool’s predicted line up vs Man City.

Read: Man City’s predicted line up vs Liverpool at the Etihad.