Date: Thursday, December 26 Venue: Etihad Stadium Kick-Off: 17:30 Manchester City will be hoping to continue their imperious home form when Liverpool visit the Etihad in an enticing top-of-the-table clash on Boxing Day.
Team News
Manchester City will be without a quad of players for the Premier League visit of Liverpool on Thursday. Leading goalscorer Sergio Aguero remains out, as do defenders Matija Nastasic, Pablo Zabaleta and Micah Richards. Stevan Jovetic missed the win at Fulham with illness and is also unlikely to feature. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has not reported any fresh injury concerns. Long-term absentees Steven Gerrard, Daniel Sturridge, Jose Enrique and Sebastian Coates all remain sidelined. (bbc)
Key Stats
City are the only team in the Premier League yet to drop a point at home this season. They have also scored in each of their last 58 Premier League home games. The Reds have won their last four league matches, scoring 17 goals in doing so. They last won five consecutive league fixtures within a single season in April-May 2009. Manuel Pellegrini's side have the best record in the division against top-half opposition, winning five of eight games and losing only at Chelsea. Luis Suarez already has 10 goals this December - the most in a month by any player in Premier League history. He has 29 goals in 26 league appearances this calendar year.
Likely Line-Ups
Man City Pantilimon, Kolarov, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy, Garcia, Rodwell, Navas, Silva, Nasri, Negredo Liverpool Mignolet, Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Flanagan, Lucas, Allen, Henderson, Sterling, Coutinho, Suarez
Match Preview
What a game we have scheduled on Boxing Day. Manchester City vs Liverpool - two of the Premier League's highest-scoring sides going toe-to-toe in a top-of-the-table clash that's not one to be missed. City will be looking to continue their imperious record as the only side in the topflight not to have dropped a single point on home soil while Liverpool's Luis Suarez will be hoping to continue his mean streak in front of goal. Suarez has scored more goals in a month than any player in Premier League history while the Sky Blues' tally of 35 goals in their opening eight home games is the most in the top flight for 51 years. But something has to give on Thursday and ironically, this one could quite easily be a low-scoring draw. We saw Arsenal and Chelsea play out a dour goalless bore-fest on Monday night and it is equally possible the same could happen here, with neither side wanting to lose. City are also without their leading scorer Aguero and understudies Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko have struggled to keep pace with their team-mate in the goal-scoring department. I can see the points being shared here. Prediction: 1-1
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
