All eyes will be on Anfield when Liverpool and Manchester City face
each other in the Premier League derby on Sunday afternoon. The Reds
came from behind to beat Aston Villa at Villa Park in their last
league match, with the team retaining a six-point advantage over Pep
Guardiola’s troops.
Jurgen Klopp’s men are eyeing their first Premier League trophy since
1990, and we are positive that they are going to fight tooth and nail
against Man City.
Sadio Mane, who impressed in the 2-1 victory over the Villans, will be
the man to watch in the home team. The Citizens recorded a
come-from-behind 2-1 win over Southampton at the weekend to keep their
title hopes alive.
The reigning champions are likely to adopt an attack-minded approach
in the Premier League derby, meaning that there is a big value in
betting on both teams to score.
Kyle Walker has tried to play down the significance of Manchester
City’s battle with Liverpool as the two sides prepare to meet this
week.
City manager Pep Guardiola has already fanned the flames prior to
Sunday’s clash of the Premier League’s top two at Anfield by accusing
Reds players of diving.
Guardiola made the comment after Sadio Mane scored a late winner
against Aston Villa on Saturday to ensure Liverpool remained six
points ahead of the champions at the top of the table.
Mane had been booked for diving earlier in the game, which Liverpool won 2-1.
“Sometimes he’s diving, sometimes he has this talent to score
incredible goals in the last minute,” Guardiola told the BBC.
Walker, who scored his own late winner as City came from behind to
beat Southampton by the same scoreline at the Etihad Stadium, was less
inflammatory.
“We were concentrating on our game,” said the City right-back, whose
appearances in recent weeks have been restricted by illness.
“There are still so many games to play in the Premier League.
Obviously, a lot of people talk about the title race, but anything can
happen in football as you have just seen.
“We just need to keep doing our job, keep getting the three points and
that’s all we can do really.”
City and Liverpool were both involved in similar games, needing to
fight back after conceding early.
In City’s case, they were stung by a Southampton side anxious to make
a point after their 9-0 thrashing by Leicester in their last league
outing.
James Ward-Prowse pounced for the opener after 13 minutes following a
mistake by Ederson.
City bombarded the Southampton box in response but the visitors
repelled everything until Sergio Aguero finally equalised 20 minutes
from time. Walker grabbed the winner with four minutes to play after
Alex McCarthy palmed an Angelino cross in his direction.
“First and foremost, I think we played a good game,” said Walker.
“They got one shot and they put it in the back of the net. That’s
football.
“We had most of the ball possession and we caused their keeper lots of
problems. I think the key was our patience and persistence, also being
positive. Luckily, I was there at the right time.”
Talk will now inevitably turn to Sunday but first City have a
Champions League fixture away to Atalanta on Wednesday.Angelino , who
made his first PremierLeague start against Saints: “Our focus is on
the Champions League now.
“We know we have a very important week before the break so we have to
stay positive and work hard for the next game, and then after doing
our job in the week we will focus on Liverpool.” Other matches of the
week includes:
Chelseal Vs Crystal Palace
Chelsea will be looking to extend their winning run in the Premier
League to six games when they welcome Crystal Palace at their Stamford
Bridge on Matchday 12. Former Blues captain Frank Lampard is doing a
fantastic job with the capital club, who are determined to secure a
top-four finish. Tammy Abraham, who is enjoying a very successful
season, is likely to prove a handful for the opposition defenders.
Yet another man to watch in the home team will be Christian Pulisic,
who scored his fourth goal of the season in a 2-1 win at Watford. The
Eagles, on the other hand, failed to impress in a 2-0 loss to
Leicester City at their Selhurst Park, and we do not believe that they
are capable of spoiling Chelsea’s party at Stamford Bridge. Taking
everything into account, we predict that the Blues are going to extend
their excellent winning run in the English top flight.
Leicester vs Arsenal
High-flying Leicester City will be looking to give fans yet another
reason for celebration when they host Arsenal at their King Power
Stadium. The Foxes made a flying start to the season, with the team
playing with a high level of confidence in the national championship.
Brendan Rodgers’ men recorded a routine 2-0 win at Crystal Palace on
Matchday 12, and they are surely capable of beating Arsenal in front
of home fans.
Jamie Vardy, who has been scoring goals for fun in the first half of
the season, will be the man to keep an eye on in the home team. The
Gunners failed to win previous three league fixtures, and given their
shaky defence; we do not believe that Unai Emery’s troops are capable
of spoiling Leicester City’s party at King Power Stadium. In their
last meeting in Leicester, the Foxes outplayed the Gunners 3-0.
Man Utd Vs Brighton
Manchester United continue to struggle in the 2019/2020 Premier League
season, with the team suffering a 1-0 loss at Bournemouth at the
weekend. The Red Devils have collected only 13 points from possible
33, and, as a result, they face a must-win situation against Brighton.
Considering that important midfielders Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic
remain in the recovery room, home win should not be considered.
A man to watch in the home side will be Marcus Rashford, who scored a
wonder goal in the League Cup win over Chelsea. The Seagulls have been
producing splendid performances in the first half of the season, and,
as a result, they occupy 8th position in the standings ahead of
Matchday 12. However, since beating Man Utd at Old Trafford is easier
said than done, we are tempted to put our money on draw.
HEAD -TO-HEAD
Man City Matches Win Draw Lose
Overall. 38 18 8 12
Home 19 12 3 4
Away 19 6 5 8
Liverpool Matches Win Draw Lose
Overall 38 16 5 17
Home 19 12 2 5
Away 19 4 3 12
WEEKEND FIXTURES
NPFL
Nasarawa United vs Wikki Tourists
Akwa Starlets vs Kano Pillars
Katsina Utd vs Enyimba Int’l
Lobi Stars vs Delta Force
Sunshine Stars vs Warri Wolves
Akwa United vs Abia Warriors
MFM vs Ifeanyi Uba
Jigawa Stars vs Plateau Utd
Rivers Utd vs Heartland
Adamawa Utd vs Enugu Rangers
EPL
Norwich City vs Watford
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
Burnley vs West Ham United
Newcastle United vs Bournemouth
Southampton vs Everton
Tottenham vs Sheffield United
Leicester City vs Arsenal
Man United vs Brighton and Hove Albion
Wolves vs Aston Villa
Liverpool vs Man City
La Liga
Real Sociedad vs Leganes
Alaves vs Real Valladolid
Valencia vs Granada
Eibar vs Real Madrid
Barcelona vs Celta Vigo
Real Mallorca vs Villarreal
Athletic Bilbao vs Levante
Atletico Madrid vs Espanyol
Getafe vs Osasuna
Real Betis vs Sevilla
Bundesliga
Cologne vs Hoffenheim
Hertha Berlin vs RB Leipzig
Mainz vs FC Union Berlin
SC Paderborn 07 vs FC Augsburg
Schalke vs Fortuna Düsseldorf
Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund
M’gladbach vs Werder Bremen
Wolfsburg vs Bayer Leverkusen
SC Freiburg vs Eintracht Frankfurt
Ligue 1
Nice vs Bordeaux
Brest vs PSG
Lille vs Metz
Monaco vs Dijon
Reims vs Angers
Strasbourg vs Nimes
TEAM P W D L F A GD PTS
Plateau Utd 1 1 0 0 3 1 2 3
Abia Warriors 1 1 0 0 2 0 2 3
Wikki Tourists 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 3
Ifeanyi Uba 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 3
MFM 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 3
Akwa Starlets 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
Akwa United 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
Delta Force 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
Warri Wolves 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
Kano Pillars 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Rivers Utd 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Enugu Rangers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Enyimba 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nasarawa Utd 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sunshine Stars 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jigawa Stars 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0
Adamawa Utd 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0
Heartland 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0
Lobi Stars 1 0 0 1 1 3 -2 0
Katsina Utd 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0
PREMIER LEAGUE
TEAM P W D L F A GD PTS
Liverpool 11 10 1 0 25 9 16 31
Man City 11 8 1 2 34 10 24 25
Leicester City 11 7 2 2 27 8 19 23
Chelsea 11 7 2 2 25 17 8 23
Arsenal 11 4 5 2 16 15 1 17
Sheffield United 11 4 4 3 12 8 4 16
Bournemouth 11 4 4 3 14 13 1 16
Brighton 11 4 3 4 14 14 0 15
Crystal Palace 11 4 3 4 10 14 -4 15
Man United 11 3 4 4 13 11 2 13
Tottenham 11 3 4 4 17 16 1 13
Wolves 11 2 7 2 14 14 0 13
West Ham Utd 11 3 4 4 14 17 -3 13
Burnley 11 3 3 5 14 18 -4 12
Newcastle Utd 11 3 3 5 9 17 -8 12
Aston Villa 11 3 2 6 16 18 -2 11
Everton 11 3 2 6 11 17 -6 11
Southampton 11 2 2 7 10 27 -17 8
Norwich City 11 2 1 8 11 26 -15 7
Watford 11 0 5 6 6 23 -17 5
LA LIGA
TEAM P W D L F A GD PTS
Barcelona 11 7 1 3 29 14 15 22
Real Madrid 11 6 4 1 21 9 12 22
Real Sociedad 12 7 1 4 20 13 7 22
Atletico Madrid 12 5 6 1 12 7 5 21
Sevilla 12 6 3 3 15 13 2 21
Granada 12 6 2 4 19 15 4 20
Getafe 12 5 4 3 18 15 3 19
Villarreal 12 5 3 4 25 16 9 18
Osasuna 12 4 6 2 16 13 3 18
Athletic Bilbao 12 4 5 3 11 7 4 17
Levante 12 5 2 5 15 14 1 17
Real Valladolid 12 4 5 3 14 14 0 17
Valencia 12 4 5 3 17 18 -1 17
Eibar 12 4 3 5 14 17 -3 15
Real Betis 12 3 4 5 14 21 -7 13
Alaves 12 3 3 6 11 18 -7 12
Real Mallorca 12 3 2 7 9 18 -9 11
Celta Vigo 12 2 3 7 6 15 -9 9
Espanyol 12 2 2 8 6 20 -14 8
Leganes 12 1 2 9 6 21 -15 5
BUNDESLIGA
TEAM P W D L F A GD PTS
M’gladbach 10 7 1 2 21 10 11 22
Dortmund 10 5 4 1 23 11 12 19
RB Leipzig 10 5 3 2 25 10 15 18
Bayern Munich 10 5 3 2 25 16 9 18
SC Freiburg 10 5 3 2 19 12 7 18
Schalke 10 5 3 2 17 11 6 18
Frankfurt 10 5 2 3 21 15 6 17
Wolfsburg 10 4 5 1 11 8 3 17
Hoffenheim 10 5 2 3 14 13 1 17
Leverkusen 10 4 3 3 15 15 0 15
Hertha Berlin 10 3 2 5 15 17 -2 11
Werder Bremen 10 2 5 3 17 21 -4 11
Düsseldorf 10 3 1 6 12 16 -4 10
Union Berlin 10 3 1 6 10 15 -5 10
Mainz 10 3 0 7 10 27 -17 9
FC Augsburg 10 1 4 5 12 24 -12 7
Cologne 10 2 1 7 9 21 -12 7
SC Paderborn 07 10 1 1 8 11 25 -14 4
LIGUE 1
TEAM P W D L F A GD PTS
PSG 12 9 0 3 26 7 19 27
Angers 12 6 2 4 17 16 1 20
Nantes 12 6 1 5 9 9 0 19
Marseille 12 5 4 3 14 16 -2 19
Lille 12 5 3 4 18 13 5 18
Bordeaux 12 5 3 4 17 14 3 18
Reims 12 5 3 4 9 6 3 18
St Etienne 12 5 3 4 12 15 -3 18
Brest 12 4 5 3 13 14 -1 17
Lyon 12 4 4 4 19 11 8 16
Montpellier 12 4 4 4 11 10 1 16
Amiens 12 4 4 4 16 17 -1 16
Nice 12 5 1 6 15 18 -3 16
Rennes 11 4 3 4 13 12 1 15
Monaco 12 4 3 5 19 22 -3 15
Dijon 12 3 3 6 7 13 -6 12
Strasbourg 12 3 3 6 7 13 -6 12
Toulouse 12 3 3 6 15 22 -7 12
Metz 12 3 3 6 11 18 -7 12
Nimes 11 2 5 4 10 12 -2 11
SERIE A
TEAM P W D L F A GD PTS
Juventus 11 9 2 0 19 9 10 29
Inter Milan 11 9 1 1 24 11 13 28
Roma 11 6 4 1 20 12 8 22
Lazio 11 6 3 2 24 11 13 21
Atalanta 11 6 3 2 30 18 12 21
Cagliari 11 6 3 2 18 10 8 21
Napoli 11 5 3 3 21 15 6 18
Fiorentina 11 4 4 3 16 14 2 16
Verona 11 4 3 4 9 9 0 15
Parma 11 4 2 5 16 15 1 14
AC Milan 11 4 1 6 11 15 -4 13
Udinese 11 4 1 6 8 18 -10 13
Bologna 11 3 3 5 15 17 -2 12
Torino 11 3 2 6 11 17 -6 11
Sassuolo 10 3 1 6 18 20 -2 10
Lecce 11 2 4 5 13 21 -8 10
Genoa 11 2 2 7 14 26 -12 8
Sampdoria 11 2 2 7 7 19 -12 8
Brescia 10 2 1 7 10 16 -6 7
Spal 11 2 1 8 7 18 -11 7
