Manchester City vs Liverpool

Etihad Stadium forms the backdrop for a blockbuster League Cup fourth-round tie between defending Premier League champions Manchester City and reigning holders Liverpool.

Stuck five points adrift of Premier League leaders Arsenal, back-to-back champions Manchester City are still in the title picture despite shockingly losing 2-1 to Brentford on the eve of the World Cup break. Keen to bounce back and build momentum ahead of a Premier League return on Boxing Day, Pep Guardiola’s men come into proceedings looking to avoid consecutive League Cup seasons without reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 2006/07. However, the ‘Cityzens’ have already lost twice to Liverpool this season, including a 3-1 defeat in a curtain-raising Community Shield fixture in July. Furthermore, they have only won one of their seven League Cup encounters against this opposition (D3, L3), while the last time they faced Liverpool as holders, they were thrashed 4-0 in 1995.

On the other hand, Liverpool’s hopes of securing a top-four Premier League finish look bleak, as they sit a whopping seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur. Desperate to make it up to their fans for an abysmal Premier League start, the ‘Reds’ will be out to defy their woeful seven-game form away to Man City in all competitions (W1, D3, L3) and maintain their hopes of defending the League Cup crown alive. Jurgen Klopp’s lads have impressively kept a clean sheet in seven of their last eight League Cup fixtures, including four on the bounce ahead of this match. Having registered three triumphs across their last four competitive away games (L1), Liverpool will fancy their chances at the Etihad, where they ousted Man City 3-2 in last season’s FA Cup semifinals.