Liverpool vs Manchester City: Preview, team news, predictions & H2H

Quick Prediction

Manchester City to edge a tight Anfield test, with Erling Haaland backed to keep his five-match scoring run alive and Liverpool’s forward injuries proving decisive.

Score pick: Liverpool 1-2 Manchester City

Match Radar
Competition	Premier League (Matchday 6)
Kickoff	Sunday, October 11, 2026, afternoon kickoff (UK time)
Venue	Anfield, Liverpool
Where To Watch	SuperSport Premier League (DStv/GOtv)
Liverpool will be without both of their first-choice forwards for this one.

Manchester City arrive at Anfield on Sunday, October 11, 2026, with a perfect five wins from five games in the Premier League, and Erling Haaland has scored five goals in those five appearances.

Liverpool come into the game in sixth place with nine points from five matches, and they will be without Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo, their two first-choice forwards, both ruled out with knocks picked up on international duty.

City, for their part, arrive their first match since an independent Premier League panel found the club guilty of the majority of 115 charges relating to breaches of its financial rules, a verdict the club is appealing, and Phil Foden will serve the last of a three-match ban for violent conduct.

Match Preview: Liverpool vs Manchester City

Manchester City sit top of the Premier League with 15 points from five matches, a perfect record that has come with a goal difference of +8 after scoring 13 and conceding five.

Erling Haaland has driven much of that scoring output, scoring five, the most of any player in that star-studded City team.

Liverpool, by contrast, have won two and drawn three of their five league games, a run that has them sixth on nine points, seven goals scored and four conceded.

Andoni Iraola’s side have not lost in the league so far, but three draws in five games is not the start many at Anfield expected after the summer they had.

Five games is a small sample this early in a 38-game season, but City’s unbeaten start and Liverpool’s draws have already opened a six-point gap after just five rounds.

Head-To-Head: Liverpool vs Manchester City

City have the upper hand in the five most recent meetings across competitions, winning three to Liverpool’s two, with no draws in that run.

City’s wins include a four-nil FA Cup victory on April 4, 2026, a two-one win at Anfield on February 8, 2026, and a three-nil win on November 9, 2025.

Liverpool’s two wins in that span came on February 23, 2025, when they won two-nil away at the Etihad, and on December 1, 2024, when they beat City two-nil at Anfield.

Across the past 44 games between both sides, Liverpool have won 17 games to City’s 13, with 14 draws in the middle.

Team News: Liverpool vs Manchester City

Liverpool

Iraola’s main selection headache is in attack, with his two most senior strikers unavailable and Federico Chiesa still to make his first appearance of the season after a lengthy injury layoff.

Lewis Koumas is expected to lead the line in Isak and Gakpo’s absence, with Iraola backing the young forward’s chances of starting.

Manchester City

For City, Antoine Semenyo picked up a minor knock to his leg on Ghana duty but has trained normally this week and is expected to start, while Nico O’Reilly remains a fitness doubt with a muscle problem.

Haaland was the subject of a direct fitness check from Enzo Maresca, who confirmed his striker has recovered in time after Norway duty.

Team News And Predicted XI
Liverpool Out	Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni
Liverpool Doubt	Federico Chiesa
City Suspended	Phil Foden (final match of a three-match ban)
City Doubt	Nico O’Reilly
Liverpool XI (4-3-3)	Alisson; Jacquet, Gomez, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Barcola, Koumas, Wirtz
City XI (4-2-3-1)	Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Gvardiol; Anderson, Fernandez; Ndiaye, Cherki, Semenyo; Haaland

Star Player Comparison: Florian Wirtz vs Erling Haaland

Star Player Comparison
	Florian Wirtz	Erling Haaland
Goals	0	5
Assists	1	0
Appearances	5	5
Fotmob Rating	7.41	7.99

The Managers: Andoni Iraola vs Enzo Maresca

Enzo Maresca succeeded Pep Guardiola as City manager in June 2026 and has lost nothing in the transition, winning each of his first five Premier League matches in charge.

The Italian’s City remain built around patient build-up from the back and numerical control in midfield, a pattern he first established at Leicester City.

Andoni Iraola continues to set up Liverpool with the high press and aggressive front-foot approach that made his reputation at Bournemouth.

Tactical Preview: Liverpool vs Manchester City

That style leaves space in behind the back line when it goes wrong, which is precisely the kind of gap Haaland has built a career out of exploiting.

Liverpool’s likely 4-3-3 depends on Koumas playing almost as a false nine, drifting into pockets vacated by City’s central defenders rather than staying fixed as a conventional target man.

That shape asks a lot of Szoboszlai, Mac Allister and Gravenberch in midfield, who will need to win second balls quickly to feed Barcola and Wirtz in transition.

City’s 4-2-3-1 gives Fernandez and Anderson protection to dominate possession, which should let Cherki operate closer to Haaland.

The clearest opening for City lies in the space behind Liverpool’s back four whenever the press is bypassed, a weakness Iraola’s aggressive approach has carried since his Bournemouth days.

Liverpool’s counter, in turn, relies on quick vertical balls into Koumas or Barcola before City’s double pivot can reset, a method that depends on winning the ball high rather than deep.

Betting tips: Liverpool vs Manchester City

Score Prediction: Liverpool vs Manchester City

Score Prediction

Liverpool 1-2 Manchester City

Likely scorers: Erling Haaland, Lewis Koumas

City’s unbeaten start, their superior goal difference and Liverpool’s missing forwards all point to a narrow away win, with Koumas offering Liverpool’s best route back into the game.