Manchester City vs Liverpool is always a huge clash but when we think about the predicted lineups and where this game will be won and lost on Sunday, it gets the excitement flowing.
**MORE** — [Preview, prediction, how to watch Man City v Liverpool](https://www.nbcsports.com/soccer/news/how-to-watch-manchester-city-vs-liverpool-live-stream-tv-channel-team-news-prediction)
Virgil van Dijk against Erling Haaland. City’s left back against Mohamed Salah. A midfield scrap for control. All over the pitch there are key areas and individual battles to focus on.
And with City clicking in recent weeks and Liverpool getting back on track over the last week, this game feels massive in terms of a winner gaining momentum heading into the international break as both clubs aim to hunt down Premier League leaders Arsenal over the winter months.
Below we look at the Manchester City vs Liverpool predicted lineups and pick a few key areas, and individual scraps, which could decide the outcome of this massive game.
**——- Donnarumma ——-**
**—- Nunes —- Stones —- Gvardiol —- O’Reilly —-**
**—— Silva —- Rodri ——**
**—— Cherki —- Foden —- Doku —-**
**——- Haaland ——-**
It appears that City’s back four is very settled and Nico O’Reilly will start over Rayan Ait-Nouri who has just returned from injury. In midfield the big dilemma is whether or not Rodri will start as he continues to struggle with fitness after a long spell out. That is a big decision for Guardiola as Nico Gonzalez has performed really well in recent games. In attack it’s pretty simple: both Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki have been in fine form so should start and Jeremy Doku has also been consistently excellent and should start on the left. Those three are tasked with getting Erling Haaland the ball as often as possible because whenever they find him at the moment he scores. City have been getting the ball forward much quicker than usual this season, and why wouldn’t you with Haaland in this type of form?
Liverpool predicted lineup
--------------------------
**——- Mamardashvili ——-**
**—- Bradley —- Konate —- Van Dijk —- Robertson —-**
**—— Gravenberch —— Mac Allister ——**
**—— Salah —- Szoboszlai —— Gakpo ——**
**——- Ekitike ——-**
Liverpool’s back four is now very settled with Bradley and Robertson giving some nice balance to their defensive shape and everything feels more solid. In midfield Gravenberch and Mac Allister were excellent against Real Madrid in midweek and the only real question mark is out on the left of attack. Will Florian Wirtz continue there after playing well against Real Madrid? Or will Cody Gakpo come back in? It will probably be Gakpo as Liverpool know they will have to defend more and Gakpo is better at tracking back and is a threat on the counter.
**What are the key areas which will decide Manchester City vs Liverpool?**
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let’s focus on the biggest one first: Erling Haaland against Virgil van Dijk. Now, Haaland has actually struggled against Liverpool in recent outings. He’s only scored once against them in the Premier League and Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate have usually had his number. Haaland likes to pull off to the right center back a bit more, so perhaps Konate will see more action against the big Norwegian striker. But the way Van Dijk takes the first knock when the ball is played up directly to Haaland, which City do a lot more often now, is key. Van Dijk will engage with Haaland more often and Konate will cover more often. But Haaland will do his best to reverse that trend and if he gets past Konate on the initial action, it’s all about how well Van Dijk reads the game and covers. Van Dijk is one of the best there has ever been at doing that but he’s looked shaky at times this season and Haaland is at the peak of his powers right now.
Central midfield seems like a particularly pivotal area in terms of the control and flow of this game and City have a big decision to make. If he’s fit, does Rodri come in for Nico Gonzalez due to his big-game experience? Probably. But it’s a really close call. Bernardo Silva will buzz around alongside whoever starts in the deeper role but on form Gonzalez should probably start. Then it’s all about how attacking Guardiola is going to be: does Tijjani Reijnders start as a slightly more natural midfielder? Or does Pep keeping going with Doku, Cherki and Foden (who are all playing so well) underneath Haaland? As for Liverpool, they have gone back to their solid trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai in midfield and they look more settled and controlled with that trio sitting in. It’s all about Liverpool waiting for the right moments to press high and not forcing it because if they get the timing on the press wrong, as they have in multiple games this season, City have the playmakers to rip them to shreds and find Haaland early and often.
Another key individual battle is out wide: City’s left back against Mohamed Salah. It’s quite likely youngster Nico O’Reilly will continue to play out of position at left back and he will be tasked with stepping high on Salah and unsettling him. But Salah has shown sparks of a return to form in recent games and even though he’s had a settled back four, it makes you wonder if Guardiola could do something different. He usually does for a big game. Could Josko Gvardiol go back to left back and Ruben Dias start at center back alongside John Stones? Would Nathan Ake could in from the cold as he’s done a decent job on Salah before? Does Stones start at right back in a hybrid role to step in to midfield and help City dominate the ball? City were much more pragmatic than anyone expected against Arsenal earlier this season and we could see Guardiola set up his team in the same way to prevent this becoming an end-to-end counter.
* * *
#### Page 2