The stage is set for Sunday's fascinating Premier League encounter between hosts Liverpool and under the pump Manchester City who will be playing for the first time since an independent commission found the club guilty of 115 charges related to breaching the league's financial rules.
The two teams developed a serious rivalry over the last decade with both competing toe-to-toe for domestic and European titles. City had more domestic titles in the period but now they are guilty of serious charges and heavy sanctions can be imposed on them. The club has maintained innocence and has appealed the verdict.
Man City, who are currently top of the league after five straight wins, will feel the heat from the Anfield crowd but they will bank on their winning momentum.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are also unbeaten but are far from perfect. They are six points below the league leaders with two wins and three draws from five matches.
Here's everything you need to know about the match.
How to watch:
The match will be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event in the UK, NBC and Peacock in the U.S., JioHotstar in India, and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates here.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time:
UK BST: Sunday, Oct. 11, 4.30 p.m.
U.S ET: Sunday, Oct. 11, 11.30 a.m.
India IST: Sunday, Oct. 11, 9 p.m.
Australia AEDT: Monday, Oct. 12, 2.30 a.m.
Venue: Anfield
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
VAR: Paul Howard
Injury and Team News
Liverpool
Conor Bradley, D - knee injury, OUT
Giovanni Leoni, D - cruciate ligament, OUT
Cody Gakpo, FW - ankle injury, DOUBT
Alexander Isak, FW - thigh injury, DOUBT
Federico Chiesa, FW - back injury, DOUBT
Hugo Ekitiké, FW - achilles tendon injury, OUT
Manchester City
Nico O'Reilly, D - muscle injury, DOUBT
Phil Foden, MF - suspended, OUT
Antoine Semenyo, FW - ankle injury, DOUBT
Expected Lineups
Liverpool Predicted XI
Alisson Becker
Milos Kerkez | Virgil van Dijk | Jérémy Jacquet | Ronald Araújo
Alexis Mac Allister | Ryan Gravenberch | Dominik Szoboszlai
Bradley Barcola | Florian Wirtz | Víctor Muñoz
Manchester City Predicted XI
Gianluigi Donnarumma
Josko Gvardiol | Marc Guéhi | Rúben Dias | Matheus Nunes
Elliot Anderson | Enzo Fernández
Jérémy Doku | Rayan Cherki | Iliman Ndiaye
Erling Haaland.
Talking Points
How will Manchester City respond after the guilty verdict?
It will not be hyperbole to write that everything changed for Man City in a span of just three weeks. The build-up to the game could've been just football matters on the pitch, where City would've been the favourites. However, it's not that simple anymore.
There's a lot of noise off the field and it's impossible for the staff and the players to simply ignore it. The ramifications could be huge and if sanctions are imposed, it will be felt by the current staff and players. Enzo Maresca has insisted that he has trust in his club and the focus is completely on the Liverpool match, but he also knows that his team will be under the pump due to the off field situation.
On the pitch, Man City have quality and can go on to win it. It remains to be seen if Erling Haaland is fit enough to start after he was seen limping during Norway's Nations League match against Portugal. If he doesn't, it could be tricky for Maresca to set up the team. There are doubts over Antoine Semenyo as well. He was out of Ghana's squad for the international window after a leg injury.
The players will be eager to show they are united in front of a boisterous Anfield. Maresca will also have his plans to dismantle Liverpool. If they are able to succeed, it will give them and their fans some respite.
Injuries to Isak, Gakpo can prove costly
Only five games into the season and Liverpool have already been given injury headache. And once again, it involves key players. Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo. The two have started the season strongly, but might not be involved on Sunday due to injuries. The good news, if reports are to be believed, is that both injuries are not very serious. They are likely to be back sooner but missing a huge game will no doubt affect Liverpool.
It will be interesting to see how Andoni Iraola goes about if both Isak and Gakpo don't play. There's no recognisable No.9 with Hugo Ekitike also out on long term injury. He could go for a false 9 with either Florian Wirtz or Dominik Szoboszlai up front. He did try Szoboszlai in that position during preseason but the most likely candidate for Sunday's game is Wirtz.
Since last year, Liverpool's home record has not been good. They haven't won in two games at home this season. Iraola will have to take Liverpool to a level where they once again start dominating the home games. This will be one of his major tasks for this season. And no better time to start doing it than Sunday's home game against Man City.
Stats
This will be the first Premier League fixture between Liverpool and Manchester City since March 2015 with neither Jürgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola in the dugout.
Manchester City have won two of the last three Premier League games between the clubs -- as many as the previous 32. The only time there have been two consecutive away wins in this Premier League fixture was in the 2002-03 campaign.
Since their goalless draw in October 2018, the 15 subsequent Premier League meetings have averaged 3.1 goals per game.
The top two scorers in this season's Premier League are Erling Haaland (five goals) and Alexander Isak (four goals), who both also lead the league for expected goals (Haaland 4.4, Isak 3.5).
Dominik Szoboszlai has three goal involvements across his last three Premier League outings versus City.
Manchester City are unbeaten in their previous 10 away league matches (won six, drawn four).