Liverpool welcomes Manchester City to Anfield this weekend aiming for a win that will boost its hopes of Champions League qualification, while City is trying to stay in the title race
12:48, 08 Feb 2026
Erling Haaland and Pep Guardiola
There are question marks over whether Erling Haaland will start against Liverpool(Image: 2025 Visionhaus)
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola maintained that Erling Haaland is the best striker in the world but refused to say whether he would line up against Liverpool this weekend.
Haaland has scored prolifically for City ever since he joined the club in 2022, but he is going through a difficult period at the moment relative to his ridiculously high standards.
The Norwegian has only scored once in his last eight appearances in all competitions, and his last Premier League goal from open play came on December 20.
"Erling is the best striker in the world," said Guardiola in a press conference last week. Asked whether Haaland would definitely start against Liverpool, though, Guardiola said: "I don't know, but I always say Erling is the best."
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It would be a major statement for Guardiola to leave Haaland out of the starting XI for the game at Anfield, so we're predicting that he will lead the line on Merseyside.
Continuing with our predicted line-up from back to front, Gianluigi Donnarumma is a certainty to line up between the sticks.
The Italian goalkeeper has been a brilliant addition to the City team, producing a series of fine performances since his transfer from Paris Saint-Germain.
In defense, there is less certainty over Guardiola's selections, but Matheus Nunes and Nico O'Reilly are probably the best bets to start in the full-back positions.
Marc Guehi should be joined in the center of defense by Ruben Dias, who is available once again after his recent injury lay-off.
Rodri has not been at his very best since returning from a serious knee injury but will expect to line up here, and should be joined in midfield by Anfield's favorite villain: Bernardo Silva.
Guardiola has a tendency to do some strange things at Anfield, and he has rotated his team a lot this season, so this is one of the more difficult predicted line-ups that we have done. We're going to stick Tijjani Reijnders in as the third midfielder but that is pure guesswork.
Antoine Semenyo is expected to start after beginning his City career with four goals in six appearances, while Rayan Cherki has been favored over Phil Foden in recent weeks.
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Predicted City line-up vs Liverpool: Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Guehi, O'Reilly; Rodri, Bernardo, Reijnders; Semenyo, Cherki, Haaland