Liverpool vs Manchester City (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch | OneFootball

A pivotal visit to Anfield looms for Manchester City following a productive Carabao Cup victory over Newcastle United in midweek, though the stakes are much higher against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon. 

Pep Guardiola’s side were tasked with overcoming the Magpies in the second leg of the competition at the Etihad Stadium and conducted their plan with efficiency and ruthlessness to reach the final, but it is Sunday’s game which could have irreparable consequences if City are to leave Anfield without a victory. 

As it was against Wolves two weeks ago, Omar Marmoush replaced Premier League top-scorer Erling Haaland and opened the scoring after just seven minutes to kill early hopes of a comeback for the visitors.

The Egypt international saw a deflected strike off Dan Burn’s leg loop over Aaron Ramsdale and into the back of the net – before scoring his second 22 minutes later, as a poor clearance from Kieran Trippier welcomed Marmoush to head in from less than a yard out.

While four goals up on aggregate, it was City’s duty to see the game out but instead of sitting back, Guardiola forced his side to show more drive at the top of the pitch and after 32 minutes, Tijjani Reijnders all but confirmed Newcastle exit with a merited strike of his own. 

Howe’s side were never going to roll over without resisting the hosts but while conveying 17 defeats from their last 18 visits to east Manchester – and trying to win for the second time in 22 years – it was never going to happen while being five goals down.

Still, Anthony Elanga gave the 5,000 away supporters something to cheer about shortly after the hour, when his well-taken strike thudded into the net off the left-hand post. City will now face their Premier League title rivals Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on 22nd March. 

Here is all you need to know about Manchester City’s clash with Liverpool on Sunday!

Match Details

Manchester City will face Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday 8 February, with kick-off scheduled for 16:30 UK.

Match Officials

Craig Pawson will supervise proceedings at Anfield on Sunday evening.

An assistant referee pairing of Timothy Wood and Matt Wilkes with support Pawson, with John Brooks taking charge as the Video Assistant Referee and Blake Antrobus as Assistant Video Assistant Referee.

Team News

Guardiola is still in the dark about Bernardo Silva’s availability for the trip to Anfield having picked up a knock in the draw to Spurs and was subsequently rested in the victory at home to Newcastle in the cup, but Rayan Cherki was atleast fit to come off the bench in that clash and is believed to be ready to start on Sunday. 

Ruben Dias was also amongst the substitutes after spending four weeks out with a hamstring injury and although he didn’t play a part in that win, it is likely he will start or come off the bench at least on Merseyside. 

John Stones is back in first-team training also despite reports suggesting he would leave the club last month. He is unlikely to feature just yet and the same applies to other absentees – such as Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku and Savinho.

New signing Marc Guehi will return from his Carabao Cup ineligibility but Guardiola refused to say whether Erling Haaland would start or watch from the bench in the opening stages, saying, “Erling is the best striker in the world.”

For City’s opponents, Joe Gomez has a slight chance of recovering from his current hip injury but former City academy star Jeremie Frimpong is still not ready to return to action. Conor Bradley, Alexander Isak and Giovanni Leoni remain out with long-term injuries.

Pep Guardiola’s Press Conference Quotes

On City’s game-plan for Sunday: “I have an idea, but still didn’t [decide] the line-up. I’ll see how they played lately, what we have to do, adjust something, but not just [for] Anfield, in all the biggest stages, big games. Always you need big personalities – it’s not about skills. All players in the Premier League and big leagues, top clubs, skills are there.

“It’s how you behave, and I’m not saying playing good or bad. It’s how you are as a player, doing it here at the biggest stadiums, at home, or last stages, European competitions – that defines the good players, and as much you have, that defines the good teams.”

On silverware ambitions this season: “We have real moments, but not enough consistency to be there [competing at the very top level], but still we’re there! 14 games in the Premier League is an eternity, from experience. It’s a lot, and everything can happen. We’re better than last season.

“Last season we finished 23rd in the UEFA Champions League, [this season] we are eighth. Carabao Cup [we went out] third round, now we’re in the final. FA Cup we’re still there. And last season in the Premier League we are miles away from Liverpool. So we’ll see what happens until the end.”

On Marc Guehi: “Playing good or bad, I don’t care. He’s a great, great, great – you smell it – signing for City for the next five, six, seven, eight years. Top, top. It’s not [just] the skills, it’s the mentality, professionalism, how he lives many, many things to be a good, good central defender.”

On Rayan Cherki: “In terms of skills, personality is, everyone can see it, day by day. He’s top, top class. Enough to sustain for many years just with that? It’s a question he has to ask himself. What does he want to become? But everyone sees it.”

Head to Head

In the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium in November 2025, Haaland had an early penalty saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili before the Norwegian headed Guardiola’s side in front after 29 minutes. 

That conversion, his 28th goal for club and country this term, came before Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk headed in from a corner but had the goal disallowed for offside against Andy Robertson, who impacted the line of sight of Gianluigi Donnarumma. 

Nico Gonzalez had doubled City’s lead in first-half injury time with a shot that deflected off van Dijk before Jeremy Doku – City’s greatest player on the night – converted with a curled effort that just about summed up his performance on the day. 

The win marked Guardiola’s 1,000th game in management in style but additionally closed the gap to league leaders Arsenal to just four points at the time. City will be hopeful to avoid that jump opening further following Sunday’s affair.

Statistics

It took Liverpool six Premier League games before they established the taste of victory this calendar year following four straight stalemates and a huge blow to Bournemouth to begin the New Year but Arne Slot’s side found their way past Newcastle to start a successful run in all competitions. 

The Merseyside club have racked up 15 goals in their last four games – including a 6-0 victory over Qarabag in the UEFA Champions League and the aforementioned 4-1 win over Eddie Howe’s side – and have impressively claimed 28 Premier League points when conceding the first goal. 

A coveted place in the top five is still out of the Reds’ hands but they will hope to collect some prized points on Sunday against Guardiola’s men, who themselves will aim to reverse a stumble in the title race. 

Having dropped points in five of their last six Premier League matches, City have now fallen six points behind Arsenal who have appeared flawless for large parts of the season. 

Victory for Arteta’s side on Saturday against Sunderland would put the pressure on Guardiola but the rewards are worthy of such a close-knit encounter, with the Blues 90 minutes away from keeping up the title chase and completing their first-ever Premier League double over Liverpool.

How to Watch

For those in the United Kingdom, the match will be available to watch live on Sky Sports with kick-off slated for 16:30 UK.

Viewers in the United States can tune in on Paramount+, with action getting underway from 11:30 EST. Check out the full global TV listings here!

City Xtra will have full up-to-date coverage on our X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram channels throughout match day, with content also provided on cityxtra.co.uk!