Liverpool kickstart a hectic few days in the Premier League on Saturday when they face the short trip across the M62 to face Manchester City.
Since Liverpool's 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid that knocked them out of the Champions League, the Reds have been out of action, with an international break taking place over the last week. The Champions League loss followed a disappointing defeat against Bournemouth in the Premier League, with the Reds currently seven points off the top four with two games in hand.
Jurgen Klopp's side needs to start picking up wins, but they face their toughest run of fixtures of the season over the next eight days, facing Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea in that time. Liverpool's last win at the Etihad in the Premier League came back in 2015, but the Reds have been handed a big boost ahead of the clash, with Luis Diaz returning to training this week after picking up an injury in October.
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So, could Liverpool make it two wins from two against City this season on Saturday? We simulated the clash to find out.
We simulated Man City vs Liverpool to get a score prediction
To complete this simulation, we used FIFA 23 and updated the squads with the latest injuries and suspensions.
We predict that City could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Ake; Rodri, De Bruyne, Gundogan; Mahrez, Alvarez, Grealish.
We predict that Jurgen Klopp's side could line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson; Jota, Gakpo, Nunez; Salah.
Despite possessing a man advantage after Ruben Dias was sent off after 14 minutes, Liverpool were the second-best team in the opening hour of the game. Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne were causing all sorts of problems, and after 70 minutes, the hosts found themselves 4-0 ahead.
Grealish scored either side of half-time to put City 2-0 up, with his first goal coming as City caught the Reds on the break and his second from a well-worked corner routine. Minutes after Grealish grabbed his second, De Bruyne made it 3-0 following some nice link-up play between Julian Alvarez and the Belgian.
And in the 67th minute, Alvarez got on the scoresheet, tapping Riyad Mahrez's cross into the net from close range after some poor defending from Klopp's men. It was an embarrassing situation for Liverpool, though they managed to pull a goal back in the 80th minute through Mohamed Salah.
As City camped in the Liverpool half, the Reds caught the hosts on the break, with Trent Alexander-Arnold firing a long ball down the line for Salah to chase. The Egyptian got the wrong side of Kyle Walker before surging towards goal, and the forward's curling effort nestled in the far corner to make it 4-1.
Substitute Roberto Firmino came close to grabbing a second for Liverpool three minutes after Salah's strike, but the Brazilian failed to find the target with a header from close range. All of a sudden, the Reds found themselves in control, and Darwin Nunez got on the scoresheet to make it 4-2 in the 87th minute.
A switch of play from Alexander-Arnold saw Andrew Robertson lift a pass over the top of the City defence, allowing Nunez to break through on goal. After bringing down Robertson's through ball, the Uruguayan powered his effort across goal and into the corner to make it 4-2, but that was all the Reds could conjure late on as they fell to a heavy defeat.
FIFA 23 predicted final score: Man City 4-2 Liverpool
Here are the full-time stats:
FIFA 23 predicts despite having a man advantage, Liverpool could fall to a tough defeat at City, losing 4-2 in the simulation. An awful 30 minute spell after half-time saw the Reds go 4-0 down, with Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate struggling to maintain City's threat on the right.
GET INVOLVED: Pick your Liverpool starting line-up to play Man City below
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