Super Sunday sees one of the most hugely anticipated clashes in recent Premier League history, as Manchester City host Liverpool. Jake Pearson picks out two bets for the crucial tie.
Football betting tips: Premier League
1pt Manchester City to win at 21/20 (General)
1pt Kevin De Bruyne to have 3+ shots at 5/4 (Sky Bet)
The Etihad Stadium will host the final of the 2021/22 Premier League season on Sunday afternoon, or at least that is what it feels like after weeks of build-up.
Despite both Manchester City and Liverpool still having seven more matches to play after the Super Sunday showdown, this really does look like the pivotal moment of the season, the crescendo to the campaign.
Just one point separates the two as Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp go head to head in one of the most eagerly anticipated Premier League fixtures of the last two decades – which probably means it will finish 0-0.
Kick-off time: 16:30 BST, Sunday
TV channel: Sky Sports Main Event
Manchester City 1/1 | Draw 13/5 | Liverpool 13/5
Both teams arrive into the match-up on the back of first leg Champions League victories, City eventually breaking down a stubborn Atletico Madrid defence to emerge with a 1-0 success, while the Reds put Benfica to the sword in Portugal, placing one foot and four toes in the semi-final of the competition thanks to a 3-1 win.
City’s match was certainly the more intense, but Guardiola’s men were afforded so much possession that it is difficult to categorise the match as a slog, and the Citizens will surely be no less match-ready than their visitors, particularly considering Liverpool’s fixture was away.
And it is the fact that this fixture is also to be played in Manchester that swings the vote in favour of City.
While Liverpool have certainly been impressive since the turn of the year, closing the gap from 14 points to just one, taking 31 points from their last 36 available, City have hardly been sluggish across the same period, managing just two points fewer.
In fact, across the last 15 matches both sides have played, they have each accrued 38 points, no team across the top five major European leagues can boast a higher - or even equal - total.
Here we have a meeting of two titans, but an odds-against price for MANCHESTER CITY TO WIN a football match on home soil appeals no matter who the opposition is, and that is the first selection in this fixture.
Indeed, Manchester City have been available to back at odds-against on just five occasions since Guardiola took charge in 2016 – and three of those occasions came in his first campaign as manager. The other two were a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea and a 4-0 demolition of Sunday’s opponents Liverpool, and though a repeat of that result is unlikely, 21/20 is too large to pass up.
Another selection that catches the eye comes in the shots market and focuses around the player who shone on Tuesday night against Atletico, Kevin De Bruyne.
It was the Belgian who looked the most likely throughout the entire first leg against the Spaniards, and though it took the introduction of Phil Foden to release KDB, the two could be in tandem again on Sunday, with the English starlet surely doing enough to earn a place in the starting line-up.
De Bruyne is often City’s most dangerous player, and is expected to step up for his side in this fixture.
The midfielder has averaged 3.10 shots per game this season. In fact, he has surpassed the 3 shots per game average in each of his last three campaigns.
He took five against Ateltico on Tuesday and is again expected to play a prominent attacking role for City.
It is in City’s most crucial fixtures that De Bruyne tends to rack up the most efforts, taking six at home to Manchester United, four at Old Trafford, four at home to Chelsea, and five at Anfield in the reverse of this fixture.
He has surpassed two shots in ten of his 18 starts in the Premier League this season, which makes a price of 5/4 about KEVIN DE BRUYNE 3+ SHOTS very appealing indeed.
Man City v Liverpool best bets and score prediction
- 1pt Manchester City to win at 21/20 (General)
- 1pt Kevin De Bruyne to have 3+ shots at 5/4 (Sky Bet)
Score prediction: Man City 1-0 Liverpool (Sky Bet odds: 15/2)
Odds correct at 1245 BST (06/04/21)
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