2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Sean McCormick)
Manchester City could be 'taken apart' by Liverpool which would prolong their dire run of form. That is the frank verdict of BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton, who claims nobody wants to see City win the Premier League for a fifth season in a row. City head to Anfield on Sunday knowing defeat would see them fall 11 points behind the league leaders in the Premier League table and leave them with a pretty improbable gap to close if they are to win a fifth successive league title.
READ MORE: Gvardiol and Walker out, Gundogan vs De Bruyne - Inside Guardiola's Man City dilemma vs Liverpool READ MORE: Pep Guardiola's 'best Man City player' needs a rest - otherwise Mo Salah will punish him Pep Guardiola's men head into the clash without a win in six games and although they arrested a run of five successive defeats on Tuesday, their collapse from 3-0 up in their 3-3 draw with Feyenoord was perhaps their most alarming performance yet. As such, leading Premier League pundits aren't holding out much hope for City when they take on Arne Slot's side on Sunday, and Manchester Evening News have rounded up their predictions below. Paul Merson The Sky Sports pundit told SportsKeeda: "It's quite unreal, isn't it? Manchester City are eight points behind Liverpool now and if they lose on Sunday, that's an 11-point gap between them.
"Even if City end up winning 15 games in a row after that, they would still end up behind Liverpool! To put things into perspective, that would be 28 games played, 10 more to go, City going on one of the best runs ever in Premier League history and still being behind. "Liverpool have to lose four games out of the next 15, if City are to get ahead of them in this case. That explains how big this match is for City now.
After this game, there is also the possibility of City even dropping out of the top four. It's unbelievable how everything can change so much in the Premier League this weekend. "I don't trust Manchester City after what happened against Feyenoord.
I have never seen anything like that and I can't back them anymore. If Rodri was there, City wouldn't have lost that game. I also think Julian Alvarez is a big miss for them now.
Don't get me wrong, they had to sell him for that kind of money but that is now coming back to bite them. "I'm finding it hard to make a case for City after what happened against Feyenoord. They will score but I can't see how Liverpool will lose at Anfield.
City are so low in confidence at the moment and it does not augur well for them." Merson's prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Manchester City Chris Sutton The former Celtic and Chelsea forward told BBC Sport: " Pep Guardiola is stressed and the players look edgy and short of confidence, but let's put it into context because this is one bad month after many years of total dominance, and what Pep has achieved and done for the Premier League has been phenomenal. "You look through their team and it makes me want to stick to my mantra from the past few weeks, which is that City will respond and remind us how good they are.
"We all know how good they can be and you could never rule out, say, Phil Foden coming good, or Erling Haaland putting in a big performance. The problem with that thought process is that there just doesn’t seem much to suggest that will happen at Anfield. Foden has not been himself all season, and I really don't know why.
Haaland is missing a lot of chances and City are conceding a lot of goals. "So I just don't see them bouncing back against Liverpool, even if Bradley and Konate cannot play. "While Trent Alexander-Arnold could come back in for Bradley, it is the injury to Konate that gives City a glimmer of hope, because he and Virgil van Dijk have formed such a good partnership under Slot.
Jarell Quansah or Joe Gomez would have to come in instead. "Still, I think the intensity that Liverpool played with against Madrid will be too much for City, and I am expecting Slot's side to repeat that. Their midfield looks so strong and Curtis Jones really impressed me against Real.
"It's been a good week for Liverpool and a good season so far but a win to send them 11 points clear of the defending champions would make it a great week and a great campaign, and that's what I am going for. "They might not just beat City, they could take them apart like Spurs did. Because City have been so dominant in the Premier League, there will be a lot of people out there who would be happy to see Liverpool win the title this season.
"I would be one of them, I think. I said last season that I would have been happy to see Arsenal finish top, because - other than Celtic in Scotland - no-one wants to see the same team win every year. That is nothing against City or their fans, it is only because they have had it their own way for so long.
" Sutton's prediction: Liverpool 4-1 Man City Mark Lawrenson The former BBC Sport pundit told Paddy Power: "It’s absolutely amazing what’s happening at Manchester City. If you had said a few weeks ago that they were going to lose five on the bounce in all competitions and then what happened on Tuesday..
. what odds would you have got on the draw after 75 minutes? Absolutely crazy. "City were hopeless, it looked like they’d never played football before.
It was like, what? "Even when City are playing well they don’t win many games at Anfield. They can turn it around but I’m going for a comfortable Liverpool win. Everything Liverpool touches turns to gold at the moment.
I was there for the win over Real Madrid and they were just fab. Lawrenson's prediction: Liverpool 2-0 Manchester City.
