Bonfire night may have been and gone, but expect fireworks to fly at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, when the two most recent Premier League champions collide in a clash of the titans.
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City and Arne Slot's Liverpool are vying for supremacy in gameweek 11 of the 2025-26 season, where the former will take charge of his 1,000th professional game as a manager, some 18 years on from his first.
The Citizens have secured three wins on the bounce in all tournaments heading into Sunday's tussle, but the resurrected Reds have claimed back-to-back successes over Aston Villa and Real Madrid already this month.
In the end, Arsenal - who are guaranteed to head into the international break at the top of the Premier League table - may be the biggest winners on Sunday, if there is not a victor and a loser on the blue side of Manchester.
However, both sides have been backed in house, and here, the Sports Mole team delivers their predictions for the blockbuster battle between Man City and Liverpool.
Barney Corkhill, Editor - Draw
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot on October 29, 2025
Liverpool are in a very strange position right now, in that I'd be more confident about them winning against Man City than I would against a team like Brentford.
Arne Slot has been quite open about the style of play which his side finds most difficult to cope with - perhaps not his smartest move, but one which hasn't really come back to bite him yet given that neither Aston Villa nor Real Madrid played that way, and surely Man City won't either.
The win over Real Madrid was very impressive - it was Liverpool's best performance of the season by a country mile, and if they put in a similar display this weekend then there is every chance that they could beat Man City, at which point we could safely say that the champions are 'back'.
All of that said, Man City have Erling Haaland. His record for Man City against Liverpool is miles off his record against most other teams, but he is in devastating form at the moment, and is coming up against a team that has already conceded 14 times this season - only three teams outside the bottom five have conceded more.
Granted, Liverpool have improved defensively in the last two games, and showed against Real Madrid that they can still shut down the world's best forwards, but it would also be naive to think that the win and performance against Madrid will immediately solve all of their problems.
It's a really fascinating game, and the main winners could end up being Arsenal if the spoils are shared, as I am predicting.
Matt Law, Football Editor - Man City
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola pictured on October 29, 2025
I changed my mind on this prediction a couple of times and came close to settling on a draw, but the presence of Haaland has convinced me to back Man City to shade this one.
Haaland has been utterly devastating this season, and with Liverpool having their problems at the back, I'm finding it difficult to predict a victory for the reigning champions at the Etihad Stadium.
Liverpool would have gained a lot of confidence from their win over Real Madrid, which was excellent, but Man City were also brilliant against Dortmund, and Phil Foden should be in a good place ahead of this match.
Liverpool did the double over Man City in the Premier League last season, but the Reds have had a difficult time of late, and I fancy the Citizens to pick up a gigantic three points here.
Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter - Man City
Erling Haaland scores and celebrates for Manchester City on November 2, 2025
Liverpool's defensive nous was not put to the test as much as expected against Real Madrid, but a red-hot Haaland, an in-form Foden and creative hub Rayan Cherki will pose an incredibly stiff challenge to the Reds' newfound rearguard solidity.
The visitors are working with an extra day's rest and have also seen several individuals get back into the groove, but owing to the sheer embarrassment of attacking riches in Guardiola's squad, we cannot envisage Slot's side spoiling Guardiola's 1,000th-game parade.
Oliver Thomas, Senior Reporter - Man City
Phil Foden celebrates after scoring for Manchester City on November 5, 2025
Both Manchester City and Liverpool will view Sunday’s showdown as a must-win fixture, especially if current leaders Arsenal extend their lead at the Premier League summit to nine points with a victory at Sunderland on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola’s side have struggled to get the better of Liverpool in recent battles, winning only one of their last eight top-flight meetings (D4 L3), while Erling Haaland has lost five of his eight encounters with the Reds in all competitions, scoring just three goals.
Arne Slot’s men will travel to the Etihad in high spirits after consecutive wins and clean sheets against Aston Villa and Real Madrid. However, shutting down Haaland in front of goal will be a tough task this weekend.
Boasting 18 goals in just 14 games for Man City this season, Haaland should relish coming up against a Liverpool defence that has been shaky on the whole this term and the Norwegian will hope that Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku will all be at their creative best.
Liverpool certainly have the tools to prevail at the Etihad, as they did last season, but Man City might just have enough to claim maximum points this time around.
Lewis Nolan, Reporter - Liverpool
Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister and Hugo Ekitike pictured on November 4, 2025
Had Manchester City faced Liverpool a week ago, the result of their Etihad clash might have been straightforward, but the visitors have finally found their footing this season.
The Reds were happy to surrender possession against Real Madrid in the Champions League, and a similar approach could work well against Erling Haaland's City, and perhaps Arne Slot will earn another win against Pep Guardiola.
Joel Lefevre, Reporter - Man City
Manchester City's Rayan Cherki on August 16, 2025
Liverpool have improved defensively in recent games, posting back-to-back clean sheets.
Holding the current Ballon d’Or frontrunner in my opinion, Kylian Mbappe, off the scoresheet is no easy feat, as nearly every Real Madrid opponent can attest to this season.
At the same time, two games are hardly convincing enough for me to believe the Reds’ defensive issues have been resolved.
Manchester City are coming into their own, and while Erling Haaland is the danger man, his supporting cast, including Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden, and Rayan Cherki, are three of the many who could expose this Liverpool backline on Sunday.
Those are arguably the three best chance creators in the Premier League at the moment, with all of them boasting plenty of high passing skills with a keen ability to pick out their Norwegian giant in the congested penalty area.
Add to that their ability to score from long range, Cherki in particularly and the three should pose a tremendous threat to the Reds.
For me, that all adds up to a Man City triumph as they have been the far more convincing of the two, while their new faces have got up to speed in the Premier League much faster than many of the Reds’ newcomers.
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