The Manchester City vs Liverpool projected lineups chat is intriguing heading into the biggest Premier League game of the season.
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First-place City host second-place Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday (watch live, 11:30am ET on USA Network and online via NBCSports.com) with Pep Guardiola’s side just one point ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s Reds.
This title battle is going down to the wire and small decisions make all the difference at this point of the season.
With Guardiola and Klopp knowing each other so well, plus their teams so accustomed to one another, will either manager pull out a surprise lineup on Sunday?
Below we look at the options for the Manchester City vs Liverpool lineups and give our opinion on what Guardiola and Klopp should do (yes, they will be reading this and tweaking their lineups accordingly, of course).
Manchester City projected lineup (4-3-3)
—– Ederson —–
— Walker — Stones — Laporte — Cancelo —-
—- De Bruyne —- Rodri —- Silva —-
—- Mahrez —- Foden —- Grealish —-
The back four and midfield pretty much picks itself, but up top it will be intriguing to see who starts. Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus can stretch this Liverpool defense, who do look vulnerable on the counter, but it is likely Phil Foden or Kevin de Bruyne will start as a false nine.
If Guardiola goes for a more defensive lineup, KDB could start as a false nine with Ilkay Gundogan in midfield. Mahrez and Grealish could be interchanged with Sterling and Jesus without much change to the overall feel of City’s attack.
Liverpool projected lineup (4-3-3)
—– Alisson —–
— Alexander-Arnold — Matip — Van Dijk — Robertson —
—- Thiago —- Fabinho —- Henderson —-
—- Salah —- Jota —- Mane —-
Jurgen Klopp’s midfield is the most intriguing area as Fabinho should start to shield the back four, with Jordan Henderson surely also starting after he was left out at Benfica in midweek. Thiago Alcantara should probably get the nod ahead of Naby Keita and Curtis Jones, but Klopp has options.
Up top, does Luis Diaz start? Will Roberto Firmino start due to his big-game experience? Or does Klopp go with Jota, Salah and Mane which has been his go-to trio for much of this season?
