Man City vs Liverpool preview: team news, lineups, TV, kick-off time, referee & VAR

Having had to endure the monotony of the international break over the past week, Premier League football will fortunately return for supporters this weekend.

It's up to Liverpool to kick the weekend off in the dreaded early slot this Saturday, with the Reds facing their toughest test of the season when they visit Manchester City at the Etihad.

Despite Jurgen Klopp's aversion to the 12:30 (GMT) kick-off time, Liverpool have won both of their early Saturday games this season - a 3-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and a 2-0 victory against Everton in the Merseyside derby.

However, this will be a much sterner challenge for the Reds with Liverpool having not won at the Etihad since 2018 in all competitions, extending to 2015 in the Premier League.

A win would see Liverpool leapfrog Man City in the table, but coming away from Saturday's match with anything would be a good result for the Reds.

Here is Anfield Watch's preview of Liverpool's trip to Man City on Saturday.

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DATE, KICK-OFF TIME, STADIUM, REFEREE & VAR

• Date: Saturday, 25 November 2023

• Kick-off time: 12:30 GMT / 07:30 / 04;30

• Stadium: Etihad

• Referee: TBC

• Assistants: TBC

• Fourth official: TBC

• VAR: TBC

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD

Despite meetings between the Reds and the Cityzens having been closely-fought in recent years, Liverpool still have an incredibly strong record against Man City since the first meeting back in 1893.

There have been 224 matches between the two teams in the past, with Liverpool having come out on top in 108 of them. The Reds have lost just 60 games with Man City and have drawn 56.

However, since Man City took residence at the Etihad back in 2003, Liverpool have won just three Premier League matches there - none in the last eight years.

Liverpool clashed with Man City four times in all competitions last season and enjoyed the early bragging rights thanks to a 3-1 win in the Community Shield and a 1-0 victory in the Premier League at Anfield.

However, the Reds lost the final two meetings. The first was a 3-2 defeat in the Carabao Cup and the second was a humbling 4-1 defeat back in the league.

WHERE TO WATCH LIVERPOOL VS BRENTFORD ON TV

Unsurprisingly, Liverpool's trip to Man City is the box-office event of the Premier League weekend, with fans in the United Kingdom able to watch the match on Sky Sports.

Those in North America will be able to watch on Peacock in the United States and fuboTV in Canada.

In much of northern and central Europe, the game will be streamed on Viaplay.

Match commentary, highlights and full match replay will be available after the game on LFCTV.

LIVERPOOL TEAM NEWS

Konate missed the international break with France and was a surprise absentee for the victory over Brentford last time out, while Gomez was also injured for the visit of the Bees. However, having had time to recuperate, both are expected to be fit for Man City.

Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch should also be fit for Liverpool's clash with the champions, bolstering Klopp's midfield options.

Alexis Mac Allister will return from suspension after missing the game against Brentford, but whether the midfielder, alongside his fellow South Americans Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Alisson, will be able to start remains to be seen.

The quartet will arrive back on Merseyside later than most of their teammates after a long and draining flight, but it's possible that Klopp uses several of them from the off against Man City.

The Spanish duo of Thiago and Stefan Bajcetic are still missing, while full-backs Conor Bradley and Andy Robertson will also be absent.

MAN CITY TEAM NEWS

The only guaranteed absentees for the Cityzens are Kevin De Bruyne and John Stones, but, despite plenty of rumoured injuries over the international break, Pep Guardiola has a fairly clean bill of health before Saturday's match.

Erling Haaland picked up a slight knock on international duty and remains a doubt for Liverpool's visit, however, the Norwegian is expected to be fit.

It's a similar story for goalkeeper Ederson who withdrew early from the Brazil squad and was replaced by Alisson for recent 2026 World Cup qualifiers, but he should be fine to feature for Man City against Liverpool.

Nathan Ake, Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes all missed the international break through injury too and Man City will have to do late fitness tests on the trio. However, Kovacic is the only player that is likely to be sidelined for Liverpool's visit.

Sergio Gomez, while unlikely to start anyway, could be missing with an ankle problem.

PREDICTED LINEUP

Klopp will have some late decisions to make regarding his South American contingent, but Alisson, Nunez and Mac Allister may be thrust into action given their importance to the Liverpool team. Hopefully, Konate and Gomez will return, with the latter potentially used in place of Kostas Tsimikas at left-back. One of Jones and Gravenberch should line up alongside Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.

(4-3-3): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Gomez; Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Jones; Salah, Nunez, Jota.

PREDICTION

Let's be honest, Klopp would snap your hand off for a draw this Saturday.

The Reds may be in great goalscoring form and sitting pretty in second, but Man City are champions for a reasons. The Cityzens have also been getting good results lately, despite the odd slip-up, and remain the strongest and most balanced side in Europe.

However, Chelsea put four past Man City before the international break. With Liverpool boasting the highest xG in the table, they will fancy their chances of punishing any rustiness in the City backline.

This is likely to be a goal-fest, but, with all fingers crossed, Liverpool could claim something from the Etihad at the weekend.

Prediction: Man City 2-2 Liverpool