Liverpool vs. Manchester City | Premier League | Pre Match

The stumbling champions meet the scintillating challengers in Sunday's Premier League headline act, as Liverpool and Manchester City engage in a battle of the behemoths at Anfield.

Victory for Arne Slot's side would see them increase their already unassailable lead over the Citizens in the top-flight table to 11 points, potentially extinguishing the visitors' hopes of a fabulous five-peat with just a third of the season gone.

Warming up for the visit of the English champions by conquering the European champions, Liverpool ended their Real Madrid hoodoo in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, where the collector's item of a missed Mohamed Salah penalty proved inconsequential.

Alexis Mac Allister's slick finish, Cody Gakpo's well-placed header and Caoimhin Kelleher's sensational stop from Kylian Mbappe's own unsuccessful spot kick prolonged Liverpool's 100% start to the 2024-25 competition, meaning that Slot's crop remain on top of the country and the continent.

A routine beating of the 15-time European champions succeeded a gargantuan effort in last weekend's top-vs-bottom battle at Southampton, who threatened to hand Slot his first away defeat as Liverpool boss before South Coast saviour Salah arrived with a pivotal second-half brace.

Safe in the knowledge that they will retain an insurmountable lead at the summit no matter what transpires on Sunday, Liverpool host the champions on a six-game winning run across all competitions, scoring multiple goals in all of those successes and keeping clean sheets in their last three Anfield affairs versus Real Madrid, Aston Villa and Bayer Leverkusen.

Already joining Carlo Ancelotti and Guus Hiddink in the exclusive club of Premier League managers to win 10 of their first 12 games, Slot now endeavours to continue a positive Liverpool trend; none of the Reds' last six bosses has lost their first Premier League match against the reigning champions of England.

As Slot masterminded a triumph over the Champions League holders with his current club, the Dutchman' former employers Feyenoord were ostensibly resigned to a heavy beating at the hands of a rejuvenated Man City, who had three goals to their name by the 53rd minute.

However, the unpredicted plight of Guardiola's men arguably hit its lowest ebb yet, as they became the first team ever in the Champions League to blow a three-goal lead in the final 15 minutes, where Slovakian defender David Hancko completed a monstrous comeback for the Rotterdam giants.

Entering the press conference room with a cut on nose and visible scratches on his head, Guardiola - who quickly had to clarify comments he made about wishing to harm himself - oversaw a sixth straight game without victory for the crumbling champions, who have not triumphed in any tournament since late October.

Last weekend's embarrassing 4-0 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur means that the Citizens are at risk of being expelled from the top four entirely this weekend - Arsenal, Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion are all just one point worse off at the time of writing - and each of City's last four matches on the road has ended in defeat.

If there is any shred of comfort for the Sky Blues faithful, it is their side's outstanding attacking record on rival turf; Guardiola's men have scored in 26 consecutive matches away from home, last being shut out on the road by Aston Villa nearly exactly 12 months ago.

Man City have also strung together a four-match unbeaten sequence versus Liverpool since last going down at Anfield in October 2022, with both meetings in Jurgen Klopp's farewell campaign ending 1-1. However, Guardiola's 27% win rate (6/22) against the Reds is his worst percentage versus any team he has taken on at least five times as a manager - yet another bad omen for a crestfallen Citizens contingent.