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The biggest derby of the first two Premier League rounds will see Manchester City and Liverpool square off at Etihad Stadium. Judging by last seasons’ standard, this should be a thrilling encounter.
Manchester City was less busy than previous years in the transfer window but still made 2 good signings in Mangala and Fernando from Porto. City looked very bad defensively in friendlies, allowing a bunch of goals and things became worrying when they lost the Community Shield 3-0 to Arsenal. The Manchester side recovered to put on a solid performance in a 2-0 win against Newcastle in the Premier League opener, but their are still question marks about their defensive capabilities right now.
Liverpool lost Suarez in the summer but brought in a whole lot of players instead and I reckon the signings were pretty good. Liverpool surely did much better than Tottenham did with the Bale money last year. The Reds have won 2-1 against Southampton in the first round and it seems they are continuing on the same line as last season – scoring at will but also conceding goals when they should not. Similar to City, they scored and conceded a lot in friendlies and continued the trend in the first Premier League round.
Team news & lineups
City will be without Negredo, while Liverpool will miss Agger, Enrique, Flanagan, Lallana and Ossaidi. New signing Balotelli is not yet ready to make his Liverpool debut.
Manchester City: Hart – Kolarov, Demichelis, Kompany, Clichy – Nasri, Fernando, Toure, Silva – Aguero, Dzeko.
Liverpool: Mignolet – Johnson, Skrtel, Lovren, Manquillo – Gerrard, Can, Henderson – Coutinho, Sterling, Sturridge.
The two teams played two fantastic games last season, with each team winning at home in matches with over 2,5 goals to show for (City 2-1, Liverpool 3-2). The level of football was superb, amazing offensive display with both teams going for it and both matches should have had even more goals. I don`t see why things would be different this time around, especially since City and Liverpool played an entertaining 2-2 draw just weeks ago in a pre-season friendly. Indeed, Liverpool does not have Suarez anymore, but they did bring in good replacements and Suarez was not instrumental in the two high scoring clashes last season. Positive football will be on display tonight for sure, both sides will be looking to bang in the goals and win the game – my tip is over 2,5 goals to be scored, the odds are decent and I will invest maximum stakes on this bet. Prediction: Manchester City – Liverpool 2-2.
Pick: over 2,5 goals
Odds: 1.67 @ Ladbrokes
Stake: 10
Possible profit: 6.7
Event date: 25 August
