Man City embark on an important stage in their season as they endeavour to get their hands on the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, and Pep Guardiola's side will be keen to pick up from where they left off after putting together a strong run of form before the international break. The Citizens have won each of their last six games in all competitions, including their last five without a response, with 7-0 and 6-0 thrashings of RB Leipzig and Burnley, respectively—games in which Erling Braut Haaland scored eight goals—serving as two notable results that aided their advancement into the Champions League and FA Cup's latter stages.

The next two Premier League games for Guardiola's team are against Liverpool and Southampton. They currently rank second in the standings and must close the eight-point gap to leaders Arsenal, who have played one more game, if they are to win the league again. Victories over Liverpool in all competitions have been hard to come by for Man City in recent seasons and they have already lost two of their three meetings against them this season, although a 3-2 EFL Cup fourth-round home win in December ended a five-game winless run against the Reds. City's Premier League home form against Liverpool bodes well ahead of Saturday's clash, though, as they have only lost one of their last 13 top-flight meetings against the Reds at the Etihad Stadium, suffering a 4-1 defeat in November 2015 under former boss Manuel Pellegrini. Securing maximum points in the early kickoff will see the Citizens win four successive Premier League games for the first time this season and put the pressure back on Arsenal when they play host to Leeds United a few hours later.

Almost 12 months on from attempting to win an unprecedented quadruple – before ultimately lifting an EFL Cup and FA Cup double – Liverpool have fallen some distance behind their rivals across all competitions this season and will end the current campaign trophyless.Before the international break, Jurgen Klopp's men followed up a famous 7-0 victory over Manchester United with back-to-back 1-0 defeats against Bournemouth and Real Madrid, with the latter confirming their elimination from the Champions League last 16. Liverpool's loss at Bournemouth, meanwhile, was their eighth in the Premier League this season, leaving the Reds sixth in the table and five points behind the top four, albeit with two matches in hand on fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur. Klopp and co, who were remarkably 30 points better off at this stage of last season, have struggled for consistency away from home throughout the campaign and have picked up only 12 points from 13 Premier League matches on the road, losing seven times and failing to score on six occasions in the process.

But Liverpool has more victories over reigning Premier League champions (23) than any other team in the league's history, including the 1-0 victory over Man City at Anfield in October thanks to a goal from Mohamed Salah in the second half. The Reds would accomplish just their second league double against Man City in the last 17 seasons if they won on Saturday. Their first came in Klopp's first season in charge in 2015–16. It would also send a message to their top–four opponents.

(image by: Sky Sports)