Paul Merson and Chris Sutton agree on prediction for Man City vs Liverpool
Former Arsenal player Paul Merson has shared his prediction for the upcoming Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool.Â
Arsenal is currently at the top of the league, eight points ahead of Manchester City who are in second place, but with one game in hand.
Arsenal’s next match is against Leeds United at home, while Manchester City will host Liverpool at Etihad Stadium a few hours before. Merson doesn’t believe Liverpool will win against Manchester City, and he thinks it’s an important match for City, as they cannot afford to lose.
“If they drop points here, they could find themselves 11 points behind Arsenal. If City win this game, however, the onus will be on Arsenal. If you’re an Arsenal fan, this is a game where you’d be hoping City would slip up.
“Liverpool aren’t going to dominate the ball and will use their pace on the counter with Salah, Nunez, and Gakpo. Manchester City do leave open spaces at the back and Liverpool will need to exploit them.
“Liverpool have been a bit like a bag of rebels, and Jurgen Klopp doesn’t know what he’s going to get from his team. One minute they’re beating Manchester United and City and the next, they’re losing to Bournemouth away from home.
“If Liverpool lose to City and then beat Arsenal next week, they’ll have blown the title race wide open. Liverpool need to win both of these games to get into the top four, and that would be a good result for them.
“Liverpool haven’t had the season they’ve had so far only because of Trent Alexander-Arnold. He gets a lot of stick, and I’m not sure what Liverpool are going to do with the situation.
“They’ve won Premier League and Champions League titles with him in the team. I would be shocked if Erling Haaland isn’t fit for this game – he pulled out of the international break.
“I don’t know which Liverpool are going to turn up, and I’m backing Man City to win a massive three points this weekend.”
Merson’s prediction: Manchester City 2-0 Liverpool.
Chris Sutton, a former Chelsea forward, concurred with Merson’s assessment of the Etihad Stadium match, predicting that City would prevail.
“Manchester City cannot afford to slip up here and lose any more ground in the title race”, he told the BBC. “This is a must-win game for them.
“Liverpool will play on the front foot and try to take the game to City and I am sure they will cause them some problems, but I still worry about the Reds at the other end. Their high defensive line has been found out plenty of times this season and they are so inconsistent that I just don’t trust them to hold out. I fancy City strongly in this one.”
Sutton’s prediction:Manchester City 3-1 Liverpool.
