Manchester City vs Liverpool
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Today’s featured game is the English League Cup game between Manchester City and Liverpool at Eastlands.
City enter this game on the back of a 2-3 defeat against bitter rivals Manchester United and won’t be too happy with that. There’s been a lot of clamour about Kompany’s red card turning the game and maybe it did – we’ll never know now. However, one thing I will say is that the display that City showed against United, albeit with ten men, did not impress me. City in general have not impressed me lately, to be honest. I will take my hat off to any side that wins when they’re not playing well but given City’s inability to defend, their lack of flair/creativity must be a concern for Mancini. Far too many times against United were City seen hoping to hell that Silva made something happen because Aguero was adrift with no support. Silva was frustrated and was subsequently replaced and a much smarter tactical approach ensued, which saw Aguero start playing well and grabbing a deserved goal for all his hard work.
Seriously, though – City aren’t doing the business at the moment for me and I think we had to expect that at some point. Every side stutters sometimes so it’s only right that City will have their run. Additionally, their absentees list is mounting and that really is a concern. I mean, take Balotelli out of their attack and their element of unpredictability has gone. Aguero is a tremendous striker but only in a standard 4-4-2 because he gets lost otherwise. Dzeko is someone I have never been a bit fan of because he’s basically a Bosnia-Herzegovina version of Peter Crouch, in my view, but my point is that City lack innovation without Balotelli and with the Italian striker a big doubt for this game, it’s hard to see where City’s goals are going to come from. Indeed, Dzeko is a big doubt too, whether I like him or not, so City are running out of options up front. Joining them on the sidelines are the two Toures, who have been called into the Ivory Coast national team, and the suspended Vincent Kompany. Kompany’s absence does concern me a little as he holds the City defence together for the most part but I’ll balance his absence against that of Suarez from Liverpool and I think we reach a stalemate there. City worked hard against United in their last game but let’s be realistic – they wouldn’t have scored had United not been sloppy and careless at the back. A sublime free-kick from Kolarov it was but should United have been in a position whereby they had to give a free kick away there? No. Should United have been dallying when City stole the ball and crossed for Aguero? No. Ten men or not – City have not created many chances for a while now, even in their 3-0 win against Liverpool lately so I think we’re in for an intriguing game here.
Liverpool may actually view this game as one they could possibly win now, to be honest. Admittedly, Suarez’s absence is a huge blow for them, especially in games like these. However, Bellamy is such a pain to play against and Liverpool love to upset the bigger clubs due to their past and I think that’s the exact Liverpool that we’ll see here today. I don’t like City or Liverpool as an avid United fan but in my view, Liverpool were rarely threatened by City in the last meeting between the two clubs in the Premier League with one of City’s goals going in via a rare mistake from Reina and another coming from a penalty that never was. On another day, I feel Liverpool could have got something there. Could it be today with City’s absentee list growing and Liverpool hopes of silverware growing? We’ll see.
Liverpool have influential captain Steven Gerrard fit for this game and I don’t think Dalglish loses anything by playing him here. Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, and Enrique should all return to the starting eleven so barring the absence of Suarez, this really is one of Liverpool’s strongest elevents. They know that City are missing their best defender, that they’ll be reeling from their loss against United, and that they’ve played a lot of games lately. I think Liverpool might just enter this game with more hope than they’d have initially had and why not – things are certainly going their way. There’s one more factor that I think will help Liverpool here and that’s the recent news about Downing being arrested for allegedly striking a girlfriend/ex-girlfriend. As a United fan, I’d be happy to make a joke about this being typical behaviour of Liverpool’s players but what I am going to point out instead is that Liverpool love to be hated. They love to be the underdogs with backs to the wall because that’s when they’re at their best. it’s no coincidence whatsoever that Liverpool’s best games in recent years have all come against the bigger sides because they’re the times that Liverpool want to do well and work their backsides off to ensure it and that’s what I expect to see here.
A low-scoring draw here and a tough trip for City to Anfield in the return leg – I think that would be a good aim for Liverpool here. I think that they can achieve it, too. However, the magic of Silva cannot be underestimated so I would not advise touching the 1×2 market here. Instead, I’d much rather opt for under 2.5 goals as this game marks one of many in quick succession for City lately and it is a game that Liverpool would take a low-scoring result from with gusto. Both sides have big question marks over their ability to score goals ahead of this game due to absentees and thus my call for this one is under 2.5 goals at 4/5.
Verdict: Under 2.5 goals at 4/5.
Wednesday’s Picks
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games!
English League Cup:
Manchester City vs Liverpool (6) 1-0
English Premier League:
Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton (8) 2-0
English Championship:
Birmingham City vs Ipswich Town (7)
Enjoy your free betting tips!