Three changes for City as Dias, Ortega Moreno and Walker all start | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has made three changes to City's starting XI for our clash with Liverpool this afternoon.

Stefan Ortega Moreno replaces Ederson in goal, Kyle Walker is recalled and Ruben Dias also makes a welcome return after injury.

Jack Grealish and Josko Gvardiol join Ederson on the bench.

LINE-UPS

CITY: Ortega, Walker (C), Akanji, Dias, Ake, Lewis, Gundogan, Nunes, Bernardo, Foden, Haaland

Subs: Ederson, Carson, Grealish, Doku, De Bruyne, Gvardiol, Savinho, O'Reilly, McAtee

LIVERPOOL: To follow...

FORMATION

It looks as though City will be 4-3-3.

Ortega Moreno will have Walker in front of him at right-back, with likely Nathan Ake at left-back.

Dias and Manuel Akanji will be the central defensive partnership.

Ilkay Gundogan - making his 200th Premier League appearance for City - and perhaps Rico Lewis will shield the back four with Phil Foden as the advanced midfielder of the trio,

If that's the case, Matheus Nunes and Bernardo will provide width alongside Erling Haaland.

As always, we'll know more just after we kick-off!

WATCH: Liverpool v City: Big rivals meet at Anfield

Best game for City?

Could this be the ideal game for City?

That probably sounds a strange thing to say, especially as Arne Slot's Liverpool have hardly put a foot wrong this season.

And even more so, perhaps, given our poor record at Anfield.

But if any game is going to demand complete focus for 90 minutes, it is Liverpool away.

The Blues are short on confidence and luck at present, with no wins in six matches.

That City are responsible for Liverpool not enjoying a period of domestic dominance over the past six years or so, should serve as the perfect reminder of how good this group of players are.

Anfield has been an unhappy hunting ground even when City have been at our very best, and it's rare to go into this fixture of late with the hosts rated as strong favourites to win.

Where better for the Blues to rediscover form and remind the rest of the Premier League that even the best teams can occasionally struggle?

WATCH: City's best Premier League moments at Liverpool

Dias return huge

Ruben Dias playing is a huge boost for City.

A natural leader, both he and Walker will add much needed leadership to a team who has suffered in recent weeks with confidence.

The Portuguese has been sorely missed and his return at Anfield could not have been timed any better.

Stats, facts and milestones

Liverpool have won just one of their last nine Premier League games against City (D5 L3), a 1-0 home victory in October 2022.

City have won just one of their last 21 Premier League away games against Liverpool (D7 L13), beating them 4-1 in February 2021. City have not won at Anfield with fans in attendance since May 2003 (2-1).

The away side has won just six of the 54 Premier League meetings between Liverpool and City, the lowest percentage of any fixture to be played more than 30 times in the competition (11%).

City have won five of their last six Premier League games against sides starting the day top of the table (D1). However, their last such defeat was a 3-1 loss against Liverpool at Anfield in November 2019, with the Reds going on to lift the title that season.

Liverpool’s only Premier League defeat so far this season was a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at Anfield. They’ve won seven of their eight league games since then (D1), scoring at least twice in seven of those games.

City have lost their last three Premier League games, as many as they had in their previous 47 combined (W35 D9). They last lost four consecutive league games between April-August 2008, while they last did so in the same season between January-March 2007 (5).

In his managerial career,  City’s Pep Guardiola has only lost more games against Tottenham (9) than he has against Liverpool (8). Indeed, he’s won just six of his 22 meetings with the Reds (27%), his lowest win rate against any side he’s faced more than five times in all competitions.

This will be Arne Slot’s first meeting with both City and their manager Pep Guardiola. None of Liverpool’s last six managers have lost their first ever league meeting with England’s reigning champions (W4 D2), since Roy Evans’ 1-0 loss to Manchester United in 1993-94.

As well as having the most goals and assists combined in the Premier League this season (16), Mohamed Salah’s goal involvements have also been worth a league-high 17 points to Liverpool this term.

Three of Ilkay Gündogan’s four Premier League goals against Liverpool have come at Anfield, with no Man City player scoring more away against the Reds in the competition’s history (Nicolas Anelka also three). Ilkay's next appearance will be his 200th in the Premier League, while if City win here, he would be the third player to win as many as 150 of his first 200 appearances in the competition (currently 149 – Bernardo Silva won 153 and Ederson 151 of first 200).