Manchester City vs Liverpool: Premier League Odds, Prediction

Edgar Chaput
March 30, 2023

Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp come face to face yet again, and it typically produces fireworks. City is eight points behind league leaders Arsenal but two things must be considered. First, Manchester has a game in hand (27 to the Gunners’ 28). Second, there remains one more league match between the two. As for the Reds, fourth place is within striking distance. They trail Tottenham by seven – Spurs are very difficult to trust these days – and have played two games less.

The Premier League odds indicate a lot of chalk in City’s favour at -192 to Liverpool’s +411. The total is established at 3.0 goals. A draw is +336.

Manchester City -156
Draw +300
Liverpool FC +370

Manchester City vs Liverpool Betting Analysis

For all of Manchester City’s dominance in recent years, Liverpool is one club against whom things have definitely not gone their way. Yes, they ousted the Merseyside club earlier this year in the Carabao Cup, but prior to that, they had not won in five consecutive games. All five stretched across three different competitions.

There was the memorable 1-0 defeat at Anfield in league play last autumn. The Mancunians lost 3-1 in the ceremonial Community Shield in August, which itself was a match set up by virtue of them having won the league last year…and losing to Liverpool in the FA Cup final. Prior to that were back-to-back 2-2 thrillers in the league. Interestingly, the only two times City has vanquished Liverpool in Premier League play in the last five seasons, they did so with ease (4-0 and 4-1).

Following their dreadful elimination in the Champions League Round of 16, Liverpool only has fourth place to strive for as the season winds down. City wants a third successive domestic title, has a massive Champions League quarter-final tilt with Bayern Munich in two weeks, and an FA semi-final date with Sheffield United (April 22).

Manchester City

One cannot doubt Manchester City’s will and desire to win as much as possible. Whatever the critics (and former players) have to say about Pep Guardiola’s tactics and preparation methods, the club picks itself up from bumps in the road with relative ease.

The shock 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest, which allowed Arsenal to increase its lead in the table, was supposed to be a sign that City didn’t quite have it this season. Time will tell, but since then they dispatched Bournemouth and Newcastle with ease before handling Crystal Palace away. It was a close contest during which Palace frustrated the likes of Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish, Ilkay Gündogan, and Rodri for much of the night. A late penalty by Haaland in the 78^th minute would seal the 1-0 victory. Since then they took out Leipzig in the Champions League (8-1 on aggregate) and Burnley 6-0 in the FA quarter-finals.

Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp’s men also haven’t played since March 11, and their fanbase surely hopes that the time spent away will have helped them shake off some dreadful recent results.

The ironic thing about Liverpool’s struggles is that one of their recent wins was, literally, historic. The 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United in early March felt like a cathartic experience. After so many twists and turns, a pitiful showing against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League tie, the disintegration of their oldest rivals could and perhaps should have paved the way to a strong end to the campaign. But the very next week they fell 1-0 to Bournemouth, itself poetic justice for the 9-0 stuffing they gave the same team last fall. Mohamed Salah, unstoppable against United, fired blanks all day, as did new signing Cody Gakpo.