Liverpool and Manchester City are facing off at Anfield in Sunday’s marquee Premier League fixture.
Bernardo Silva could miss the tie, while the Reds have a few injury problems of their own.
Jeremie Frimpong remains out for a few weeks, with Conor Bradley, Alexander Isak and Giovanni Leoni all long-term absentees.
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Combined Liverpool/Man City XI
Combined Liverpool/Man City XI
Joe Gomez’s involvement ahead of the meeting with Man City remains up in the air, leaving Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate as potentially the only fit centre-backs who can start for Arne Slot.
But just like Liverpool, Man City have had their fair share of injury woes at the back this term.
Alan Shearer’s odd Manchester City defence claim ahead of Liverpool
Going into the weekend, Josko Gvardiol is out after suffering his second injury of the season.
Ruben Dias picked up a hamstring issue at the beginning of January and has been absent from City’s last four league games.
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Elsewhere, John Stones has missed 10 matches in a row with a thigh problem.
However, Man City have still managed to concede just 23 goals in 24 Premier League ties, the second-best record in the division behind Arsenal, who are widely regarded as having by far and away the best backline in 2025/26.
Yet, when predicting the result of Liverpool versus Man City for the Metro, Alan Shearer has said both Liverpool and City have ‘been really poor defensively’.
Shearer thinks the tie will end as a score-draw and said: “It could be a cracking game because both teams have been really poor defensively. They both have great players in forward positions, so I think I’ll go for a score draw.”
Liverpool will hope Shearer is right about City’s backline being really poor, though their record this season suggests that won’t be the case.
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Pep Lijnders watching Manchester City warm up ahead of their UEFA Champions League match against Galatasaray at the Etihad Stadium (Credit: Getty Images/Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA).
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA
Liverpool vs Manchester City head-to-head
In the past, we have seen these two sides playing out some hugely entertaining affairs.
The meeting earlier this season wasn’t ideal for Liverpool, of course, with City netting three without reply.
But barring that defeat, the Reds haven’t lost to the Manchester outfit since April 2023.
They picked up two 2-0 wins over the Sky Blues last season, while both meetings in 2023/24 ended as 1-1 draws.
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