Manchester City's season is swiftly getting away from them.
Pep Guardiola's team were on course to get back on track when they led Feyenoord 3-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday. Yet it finished 3-3 and the Premier League champions' winless run extended to six matches across all competitions.
City became the first team in Champions League history to lead a match by three goals as late as the 75th minute and fail to go on to win.
They failed to win a match in which they led by three goals for the first time in all competitions since May 1989 against Bournemouth in the second tier (3-3), while for the first time in his managerial career, Guardiola saw a team of his fail to win a match in which they were leading by three goals.
City have also 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.
According to the Opta supercomputer, they now have just a 12.6% chance of retaining the title.
So, a trip to Anfield to face Arne Slot's rampant Liverpool – who are eight points clear at the top of the Premier League and beat Real Madrid 2-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday – is hardly the match Guardiola would have wanted as he looks to get City back on course.
Here, we preview a huge clash.
What's expected?
Perhaps not since Liverpool's title-winning campaign in 2019-20 has there been such a gulf in form between these two rivals. A win for Liverpool could see them go 11 points clear – in Premier League history, only three teams have overcome a deficit of more than 11 points to go on and win the title (Manchester United in 1992-93 and 1995-96, and Arsenal in 1997-98).
As it stands, Liverpool have a 74.8% chance of winning the title.
The onus really is on City, then, to snap their dismal run of form, but Opta's supercomputer makes Liverpool the favourites, with a 45.3% win likelihood. City came out on top in 29.9% of the data-led simulations, while there is a 24.8% chance of a draw.
The Citizens have won just one of their last 21 Premier League away games against Liverpool (D7 L13), beating them 4-1 in February 2021. They have not won at Anfield with fans in attendance since May 2003 (2-1).
Liverpool have won just one of their last nine Premier League games against City (D5 L3), a 1-0 home victory in October 2022.
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%).
Slot's machine keeps paying out
Maybe only in his wildest dreams would Slot have hoped for such a strong start to his Liverpool tenure, especially given the size of the shoes he had to fill at Anfield.
The Guardiola-Jurgen Klopp rivalry lit up English football for the last eight years, but Slot has swiftly made this Liverpool team his own.
This will be Slot's first meeting with both Manchester City and their manager Guardiola. None of Liverpool's last six managers have lost their first league meeting with England’s reigning champions (W4 D2), since Roy Evans' 1-0 loss to Manchester United in 1993-94.
Liverpool's only Premier League defeat so far this season was a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at Anfield. They have won seven of their eight league games since (D1), scoring at least twice in seven of those games.
No manager in Premier League history has reached 10 wins in fewer matches from the start of their career in the competition than Slot (12 games, level with Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti).
In contrast to the rampant attacking of the Klopp era, Liverpool's foundations have been built on a strong defence. They have kept more clean sheets (six) than any other team in the top flight this term, and conceded just eight goals (at least four fewer than any other side and nine fewer than Manchester City). Their 10.75 expected goals against (xGA) is also the lowest total in the competition.
Not that the Reds' attack hasn't been on point. Tottenham (27) are the only team to score more goals than Liverpool (24) in the Premier League in 2024-25, while Slot's side have the third-highest xG (23.6) and have had the highest number of big chances (defined by Opta as an opportunity from which a player would reasonably be expected to score), with 48.
The big question is how Slot's possession-based system will match up against City's. But it is all clicking for the Dutchman so far.
The boys with the blues
City have not lost four Premier League games in a row within a single season since 2007 when they suffered five consecutive losses to Blackburn Rovers, Reading, Portsmouth, Wigan Athletic and Chelsea between January and March.
But a defeat at Anfield would see them match that unwanted slice of history.
In his managerial career, Guardiola has only lost more games against Tottenham (nine) than he has against Liverpool (eight).
He has won just six of his 22 meetings with the Reds (27%), his lowest win rate against any side he has faced more than five times in all competitions.
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 win the title that season.
Defensively, City have been all over the place. Their 15.9 xGA means they are averaging 1.3 xGA per game, whereas last season in the Premier League, they finished with 35.9 xGA (an average of 0.9 per match).
Erling Haaland, for all his talent, has squandered some big chances, albeit he is still performing slightly above his xG (12 goals from 11.9 xG). City are underperforming their xG as a team by 2.4 (22 goals from 24.4 xG).
Problems in both boxes, then, for Guardiola to solve.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Liverpool - Mohamed Salah
Salah netted twice to help Liverpool to a 3-2 comeback win over Southampton last week and has made headlines this week when he claimed after that victory at St Mary's that he was yet to be offered any sort of contract by the club – his current deal expires at the end of the season.
If this is to be Salah's last campaign at Liverpool, he is doing his very best to go out on a high note. As well as having the most goals and assists combined in the Premier League this season (16), Salah’s goal involvements have also been worth a league-high 17 points to Liverpool this term.
Salah has scored seven times in the league against Manchester City for Liverpool, while he needs just two more top-flight goals at Anfield to bring up his 100th for the Reds at their home ground.
Manchester City - Ilkay Gundogan
Three of Gundogan’s four Premier League goals against Liverpool have come at Anfield, with no City player scoring more away against the Reds in the competition’s history (Nicolas Anelka also three).
His next appearance will be his 200th in the Premier League, while if Manchester 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).
Gundogan would be only the third German player to hit the landmark of 200 Premier League games after Robert Huth (322), Dietmar Hamann (268) and Pascal Gross (228).
LA Galaxy 2-1 New York Red Bulls: Paintsil and Joveljic goals secure MLS Cup
The LA Galaxy claimed a record-extending sixth MLS Cup by beating the New York Red Bulls 2-1, with early goals from Joseph Paintsil and Dejan Joveljic securing the trophy.
The Galaxy raced into a two-goal lead within 13 minutes as they made a blistering start on home soil at Dignity Health Sports Park, and they held firm after the Red Bulls halved the arrears midway through the first half.
Gaston Brugman threaded a lovely throughball into the path of Paintsil, who slotted his finish under Carlos Coronel for a ninth-minute opener.
Four minutes later, Greg Vanney's men had breathing space as Joveljic escaped the Red Bulls backline to prod home with the outside of his boot.
Daniel Edelman narrowly avoided putting through his own net soon afterwards, then New York clawed one back through captain Sean Nealis, who volleyed home following an inswinging corner Emil Forsberg.
Noah Eile missed one glorious chance before teeing up another for Dante Vanzeir, but the Galaxy held firm, almost adding a third goal when Miki Yamane cannoned a shot against the post shortly after the hour-mark.
Data Debrief: Galaxy out on their own
The LA Galaxy already held the record for most MLS Cup triumphs ahead of Saturday's showpiece game, with their sixth success now taking them two clear of D.C. United.
The win ended their 10-year wait for a title, last claiming the crown when a team containing Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane beat the New England Revolution in 2014.
Girona 0-3 Real Madrid: Bellingham and Mbappe score as Blancos close on Barcelona
Real Madrid closed the gap on LaLiga leaders Barcelona to two points with a commanding 3-0 win at Girona, with goals from Jude Bellingham, Arda Guler and Kylian Mbappe.
Second-placed Madrid have 36 points with a game in hand on Barca, who drew 2-2 at Real Betis earlier on Saturday, after inflicting Girona's sixth loss of the campaign.
Bellingham opened the scoring in the 36th minute by capitalising on a loose ball and firing home from the centre of the box, with the England international then turning provider for Madrid's second goal.
Ten minutes into the second half, his defence-splitting throughball teed up Guler to double Madrid's lead, though Bellingham was withdrawn with an injury soon afterwards.
Mbappe then added further gloss shortly after the hour mark, firing home from a tight angle for his ninth league goal of the season.
Data debrief: Mbappe brings up double century
Mbappe's ninth league goal for Madrid was also his 200th in his career across Europe's top five leagues, on his 261st such appearance.
He netted 16 times for Monaco and 175 times with Paris Saint-Germain.
He was not the only Blancos star with something to celebrate, as Bellingham made it five straight games with a goal for the very first time in Europe's top leagues, though his second-half exit will concern Carlo Ancelotti.
STETHS end title drought with 3-1 Ben Francis Cup win over Clarendon College
St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) celebrated their seventh hold on the ISSA/Wata Ben Francis Cup in commanding fashion after defeating dethroned daCosta Cup champions Clarendon College 3-1 in an entertaining final at the National Stadium on Saturday.
Goals from Trinidad and Tobago’s Kaieem Lewis (27th), Henry Johnson (45+2), and substitute Jordan Blake (90+3) ended an eight-year title drought for the Santa Cruz-based institution. Their last triumph came in 2015, when they secured a memorable double, winning both the daCosta Cup and the Ben Francis Cup.
This latest success adds to a decorated history in the competition, with previous titles in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Meanwhile, Justin Hayles (69th) pulled one back for Clarendon College, who finished the season empty-handed for the first time in recent memory.
Winning coach Omar Wedderburn is optimistic that this title win is the start of their resurgence for even greater ambitions in the seasons ahead, as it serves as a reminder of their rich legacy in schoolboy football.
“It feels incredible to finally bring this title back home; we came here today with a lot of heart, so we are really happy. It is almost a decade now since we won anything at STETHS, and I think this is the way to start. We have to creep before we walk, and this is our creeping right now because we have great plans for next year, and this will motivate our programme going forward,” a jubilant Wedderburn said post-match.
STETHS entered the contest with purpose, but it was Clarendon College who initially looked more threatening in the early exchanges.
In the 10th minute, Dameon Simms had an opportunity for the Chapelton-based Clarendon College deep inside the box, only to be denied by Johnoi Steadman in goal for STETHS.
The Santa Cruz outfit began asserting themselves shortly after, with Lewis narrowly missing the target in the 16th minute. STETHS appeared to have broken the deadlock in the 24th minute when Justin McPherson found the back of the net, but the goal was ruled offside.
Still, persistence paid off three minutes later, as Dantay Hewitt's pass found Lewis in the box, and the Trinidadian comfortably slotted home from close range to give STETHS the lead.
Right before halftime, Joshaine Beecher’s dynamic run on the break set up Johnson, whose perfectly timed overlapping run ended with a clinical finish past Clarendon College’s goalkeeper Marco Thompson to put STETHS 2-0 up at the break.
Clarendon College came out with renewed vigour on the resumption, with Justin Hayles forcing two strong saves from Steadman a few minutes in.
The pressure eventually yielded results in the 69th minute when Antwon McDonald was brought down in the box, and Hayles calmly converted the ensuing penalty to reduce the deficit.
Clarendon College continued to press for an equalizer, but Steadman remained resolute, denying Dusean Petgrave in the 76th minute to maintain STETHS’s advantage.
Though still in charge in the dying moments of the contest, STETHS showcased their composure and teamwork with a fluid sequence involving four or five passes. Substitute Blake capped off the well-worked build-up with a curling left-footed shot past the diving Thompson to seal the 3-1 victory.
Clarendon College’s Technical Director, Lenworth Hyde, expressed a mixed bag of emotions at the outcome.
“Such is the game; this year we have been in an out with players; we lost a lot of our players last year and brought in some new players this year. After we got knocked out of the daCosta Cup, we cut the squad again and brought up some Under-16 players to play as we build for next season. I think we tried, but STETHS was just quicker than us, and we didn’t make use of our chances,” Hyde said.
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