The thing about the New Year is that nobody knows what it holds. With five months or so remaining in the Premier League that’s certainly the case, but despite that uncertainty, it definitely feels like English football hasn’t been this strong in a long time – if ever. The quality of the players and the teams, in general, leaves us feeling incredibly excited for what’s ahead, and now that the festive period is over, it’s time to get back to business. There are many, many questions left unanswered at both ends of the table, and we get the feeling that we’ll receive some answers tomorrow night at the Etihad.

Manchester City will be hosting Liverpool in a game that, simply put, could wind up deciding who walks away as the Champions of England this season. That sounds a little bit overdramatic, but it could easily be true. Nobody really knows what the future holds in this game especially when it comes to City and the Reds, but one thing we do know is that these are the two best teams in the country right now. With that in mind, it’s not exactly surprising to hear that just about everyone is raving about the encounter before it’s even happened yet.

Pep Guardiola won’t exactly be hitting the panic button just yet, but he’ll certainly be well aware of the fact that there’s a very real threat facing his reigning champions. The Spaniard has done a phenomenal job since arriving at the club, but with a new challenger fighting him every step of the way now, he needs to show us something different. Perhaps that means bringing in some new faces during the January transfer window, but even if that’s the case, at least it’ll show that he’s not ready to lie down and let Liverpool take the title away from him.

Speaking of which – just how good are Liverpool? They’re playing with the kind of style and fluidity that most teams could only dream of, and that’s not an exaggeration. Jurgen Klopp has built them into being one of the most intriguing and dangerous teams in all of Europe, and that’s quite the accomplishment. Sure, they’ve still got another half of the season to go before they can finally start to celebrate winning the Premier League for the first time, but still, you can’t get much better than this at the start of January.

When we look back on the season, there’s a very good chance that this last six game stretch for City could define where they end up. They managed to pick up back to back wins over Hoffenheim and Everton, but they only just scraped by Leicester City in the League Cup as we’ve covered on multiple occasions. Then came the big moments: consecutive losses against Crystal Palace and Leicester themselves. While they did manage to get back on track against Southampton, every team in the division will now be well aware of the fact that they aren’t invincible after all.

Liverpool’s last six, of course, has been pretty much perfect. With 19 goals across the games and just two goals conceded, it’s not exactly hard to see why they’re finding so much success. They dismantled Bournemouth 4-0 before edging past Napoli in the Champions League, confirming their place in the Round of 16 in the process. The 3-1 win over Manchester United was an extremely satisfying one for Klopp and company, with the 2-0 win over Wolves showcasing that they’re still able to grind out games too. They then walked through Newcastle in another big performance, before sticking five past Arsenal to once again prove that they’re on a whole different level.

While we’re talking about two teams that have been around for a long time, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s been even between them. With their first meeting coming back in 1893 it’s clear to see that there’s history there, with Liverpool being in full control of that. They lead the overall head to head standings 104-54, with 53 draws too. City actually haven’t beaten the Reds in their last four games, and it’s no secret that they’re desperate to get back at Klopp’s men after they knocked them out of the Champions League last season.

One of the big questions for City will be whether or not Kevin De Bruyne makes it in time, after sustaining a muscle injury that kept him out of the game against Southampton. It’s no exaggeration to suggest that the result of the game could depend on it, as Ilkay Gundogan also bids to push back into the starting XI. Fabian Delph is still out through suspension with Bravo and Mendy being the only long term absences, but either way, there’s absolutely no reason for the home side to be afraid of Liverpool when you stack both squads up against each other.

James Milner is expected to be available for selection for Liverpool following a recent muscle injury. Dominic Solanke will probably be out but likely wouldn’t have made an appearance anyway, but crucially, Sadio Mane will still be able to play after an investigation from the FA regarding his incident with Stephan Lichtsteiner. Aside from all of that Liverpool should have a fully fit squad to choose from, and when you look at the kind of roll they’ve been on lately, you do have to wonder whether or not there’s anyone that can stop them at the moment.

Manchester City vs Liverpool Betting Prediction

The key in this one is seeing who is going to blink first, and it really is that simple. Both teams are so impeccable that it feels as if one mistake is going to open the door for the opposition to strike. We think that mistake will come from Liverpool, if only because they know what’s at stake – causing the pressure to get to them. City will take the lead half way through the first half, then early in the second, they’ll score with a nice counter attack to leave Liverpool scrambling.

Liverpool will pull one back around the 70 minute mark, setting up a grandstand finish, but they won’t be able to grab that oh so crucial equaliser. The win for City should push them on towards even bigger things throughout the remainder of the season, and if we’re talking about the bigger picture, we actually do believe that they’ll be the ones who win the title. Liverpool are playing unbelievable football right now but if they can get into the quarter finals of the Champions League, then we can imagine Klopp trying to stretch his squad out just a bit too much.

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