As the Premier League's top-two sides meet on Sunday at Anfield, here is how they will line up. While Dominik Szoboszlai starts for the home side, star winger Mohammed Salah featured only among the substitutes.
LIVERPOOL FC:
Kelleher, Joe Gomez, Wataru Endo, Virgil Van Dijk (C), Luis Diaz, Dominik Szoboszlai, Darwin Nunez, Alexis Mac Allister, Harvey Elliott, Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley.
SUBS | Adrian, Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo, Konstantinos Tsimikas, Andy Robertson, Bobby Clark, James McConnell, Amara Nallo, Lewis Koumas.
MANCHESTER CITY:
Ederson, Kyle Walker (C), John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake, Rodrigo, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland.
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Ruben Dias, Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku, Sergio Gomez, Josko Gvardiol, Matheus Nunes, Oscar Bobb, Rico Lewis.
Today's City squad! 🩵
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 10, 2024
XI | Ederson, Walker (C), Stones, Akanji, Ake, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Alvarez, Foden, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Dias, Kovacic, Doku, Gomez, Gvardiol, Nunes, Bobb, Lewis#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/p8vXs8LBWC
Entering the weekend, the top three teams in the league were separated by two points. Liverpool (19-2-6, 63 points) is a point up on City (19-3-5, 62), while Arsenal entered its Saturday matchup against Brentford two points back of the Reds. Now, Gunners are at the top of the table although City and Liverpool have a game in hand.
The Reds to take on Manchester City 👊🔴#LIVMCI
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 10, 2024
Manchester City are aiming to become the first-ever four-time repeat English league champions but have spent precious little time in the lead this season in part because of Liverpool's excellent campaign. And while the Reds endured some key injuries in February, they appear to be getting closer to full health. Leading scorer Mo Salah was the latest to return to the squad, having made a late appearance off the bench on Thursday in a 5-1 win at Sparta Prague in the UEFA Europa League round of 16.
Meanwhile, City's star tandem of Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne are also in form. Haaland has scored in five of his last eight matches (10 goals total), and De Bruyne has assists in five of his past eight contests (nine total).
While Sunday's match is critical, the quality on both sides leaves Klopp believing a bad result for either side won't be fatal."If you go through all of the possible scenarios, I don't think after whatever result anybody should open the bottles of champagne," said Klopp, who is stepping down at the end of the season.
