Anfield is the place to be for this weekend’s Premier League main event, as all-conquering Liverpool host an ailing Manchester City in Sunday’s top-of-the-table battle.
Arne Slot’s men can open up a staggering 11-point lead over the champions by subjecting them to a slice of Merseyside misery, having taken advantage of the Citizens’ repeated failings of late.
While Pep Guardiola’s side were decimated 4-0 by Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, Liverpool survived a major scare at Southampton to emerge victorious by three goals to two, thereby increasing their unassailable lead at the top to eight points.
Man City’s abjection continued in midweek when they blew a three-goal lead at home to Feyenoord in the Champions League, but their hosts suffered no such catastrophe against Real Madrid, beating the holders for the first time since 2009 with a 2-0 success.
Ahead of Sunday’s tantalising battle, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record between the two clubs.
From 216 previous battles between Liverpool and Man City, the Reds – who undoubtedly boast the more esteemed history – lead the head-to-head tally with 108 wins compared to 60 for the boys in blue, while another 58 contests have ended level.
The most recent of those draws came at Anfield back in March 2024, as a slick John Stones opener was cancelled out by an Alexis Mac Allister spot kick, although the Reds felt that they should have had another penalty in the dying embers for Jeremy Doku’s flying kick on the Argentine.
Earlier in the 2023-24 season, Erling Haaland opened the scoring for the reigning champions at the Etihad, but Trent Alexander-Arnold found the bottom corner to restore parity in the dying embers before irking the home crowd with a shushing celebration.
Alexander-Arnold’s antics were not the sole reason for Citizens fan fury that day, though, as Pep Guardiola’s side had a Ruben Dias strike ruled out for Manuel Akanji’s perceived foul on Alisson Becker and lost their two-game winning sequence versus the Reds in the process.
Man City had earned a pair of Etihad successes over Liverpool in 2022-23 – a 3-2 EFL Cup success and 4-1 Premier League battering – but an Anfield encounter in October 2022 went the Reds’ way thanks to Mohamed Salah’s solitary goal.
That triumph was not without a financial penalty for Jurgen Klopp, though, as the German gave the linesman an earful and took a £30,000 hit from the FA, and earlier meetings in 2022 saw the Reds prevail in the Community Shield and FA Cup semi-finals following a 2-2 Etihad draw in the Premier League.
Owing to the low-scoring draw in March 2024, Liverpool have only been beaten one of their last 21 Premier League home matches against the Citizens, and while that did come as recently as February 2021 – a 4-1 embarrassment – there were no fans present at Anfield that day.
Furthermore, only two of the last 31 battles between Liverpool and Man City in the top flight have seen the away team come up trumps – the other being Liverpool’s identical win at the Etihad in 2015 – which was Klopp’s first meeting with the Citizens as Reds head coach.
However, the German’s departure from Liverpool at the end of the 2023-24 season means that his epic Premier League rivalry with Guardiola is now closed, and he could not prevent the Catalonian coach from winning four top-flight titles in a row before taking his leave.
Last 20 meetings
Mar 10, 2024:Liverpool 1-1 Man City (Premier League)
Nov 25, 2023: Man City 1-1 Liverpool (Premier League)
Apr 01, 2023: Man City 4-1 Liverpool (Premier League)
Dec 22, 2022: Man City 3-2 Liverpool (EFL Cup Round of 16)
Oct 16, 2022: Liverpool 1-0 Man City (Premier League)
Jul 30, 2022: Liverpool 3-1 Man City (Community Shield)
Apr 16, 2022: Man City 2-3 Liverpool (FA Cup Semi-Finals)
Apr 10, 2022: Man City 2-2 Liverpool (Premier League)
Oct 03, 2021: Liverpool 2-2 Man City (Premier League)
Feb 07, 2021: Liverpool 1-4 Man City (Premier League)
Nov 08, 2020: Man City 1-1 Liverpool (Premier League)
Jul 02, 2020: Man City 4-0 Liverpool (Premier League)
Nov 10, 2019: Liverpool 3-1 Man City (Premier League)
Aug 04, 2019: Liverpool 1-1 Man City (Community Shield)
Jan 03, 2019: Man City 2-1 Liverpool (Premier League)
Oct 07, 2018: Liverpool 0-0 Man City (Premier League)
Apr 10, 2018: Man City 1-2 Liverpool (Champions League Quarter-Finals)
Apr 04, 2018: Liverpool 3-0 Man City (Champions League Quarter-Finals)
Jan 14, 2018: Liverpool 4-3 Man City (Premier League)
Sep 09, 2017: Man City 5-0 Liverpool (Premier League)
Last 10 Premier League meetings
Mar 10, 2024:Liverpool 1-1 Man City (Premier League)
Nov 25, 2023: Man City 1-1 Liverpool (Premier League)
Apr 01, 2023: Man City 4-1 Liverpool (Premier League)
Oct 16, 2022: Liverpool 1-0 Man City (Premier League)
Apr 10, 2022: Man City 2-2 Liverpool (Premier League)
Oct 03, 2021: Liverpool 2-2 Man City (Premier League)
Feb 07, 2021: Liverpool 1-4 Man City (Premier League)
Nov 08, 2020: Man City 1-1 Liverpool (Premier League)
Jul 02, 2020: Man City 4-0 Liverpool (Premier League)
Nov 10, 2019: Liverpool 3-1 Man City (Premier League)