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Liverpool FC |
| Man.city |
Current Premier League champions Manchester City will be the opponents for Brendan Rodgers ’first league game in charge of Liverpool Football Club in front of the Anfield faithful.
After a nightmare unfolded for Liverpool at the Hawthorns on the opening day of the campaign, the Reds will be keen to bounce back in front of their own fans and there will be no better way to do that than to take all three points on Sunday afternoon.
Brendan Rodgers will be anxious for his side to continue its impressive start at Anfield, the Reds having comfortably seen off FC Gomel 3-0 in the Europa League and dispatched Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 in a pre-season friendly; however, he will be acutely aware that the reigning Premier League champions pose a much greater threat.
Mancini’s men arrive at Anfield having defeated Premier League new boys Southampton 3-2 at the Etihad in their opening fixture. The three points achieved from a losing position will no doubt have boosted City’s confidence; however, the fact that City surrendered a one goal lead to a newly promoted side is bound to be of some comfort to their opponents.
The two sides met four times in all in the 2011/12 season, twice in the league (as is the norm) and in a two-legged League Cup semi-final. The head to head from those matches is about as even as it gets – two draws and one win a piece – (despite Liverpool’s aggregate win in the semi-final) and it seems likely that there’ll be little to choose between the teams on Sunday either.
Having a brief look at the history of the fixture goes a long way to backing this up. Four of the last seven Premier League fixtures between Liverpool and Manchester City have resulted in draws, with two wins for the Citizens and one for the Reds. The stats at Anfield suggest that City won’t have it all their own way on Sunday. Of the last ten visits to the home of LFC, City have failed to win any and, in fact, have lost six. The last time the Blue half of Manchester left Anfield with a win was in 2003 when Nicolas Anelka came back to haunt Gerard Houllier by scoring the winner in the last minute.
Possible Starting Line-ups:
Liverpool: Reina, Enrique, Skrtel, Carragher, Johnson, Lucas, Allen, Gerrard, Downing, Suarez, Borini
Manchester City: Hart, Clichy, Kompany, Lescott, Zabaleta, De Jong, Y Toure, Nasri, Silva, Tevez, Dzeko
Prediction: 2-1
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