The Great War is at the forefront
This season’s Premier League is witnessing a “three-horse” championship race between Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal. After 27 rounds, Liverpool is leading the Premier League rankings with 63 points and only 1 point ahead of Man City. That is also the gap between the defending champion and Arsenal.
Liverpool and Man City are closely chasing each other in the Premier League championship race
Therefore, both Liverpool and Man City must win because a draw between the two teams will likely help Arsenal take the lead in the championship race. With their destructive form since the beginning of 2024, the “Gunners” are predicted to win all 3 points against Brentford.
Anfield is famous as a place where “it’s easy to go and hard to return” for every team in Europe, including Man City. Over the past 20 years, Man City has only won once when they were away at Liverpool’s home field. In addition, no coach has beaten Pep Guardiola more than Jurgen Klopp (12 times).
History supports Liverpool
Liverpool and Man City are not eternal rivals like Liverpool – MU or Man City – MU because in terms of history, the “Red Brigade” has a much more successful history than the blue half of Manchester.
In 195 previous confrontations, Liverpool won 93 matches, nearly double that of Man City (50 matches). The common point between the two teams is that they both had a period of decades without winning the country’s highest tournament.
| The 10 most recent meetings between Liverpool and Man City in the Premier League | |
| Season | Result |
| 2023/24 | Man City 1-1 Liverpool |
| 2022/23 | Man City 4-1 Liverpool |
| Liverpool 1-0 Man City | |
| 2021/22 | Man City 2-2 Liverpool |
| Liverpool 2-2 Man City | |
| 2020/21 | Liverpool 1-4 Man City |
| Man City 1-1 Liverpool | |
| 2019/20 | Man City 4-0 Liverpool |
| Liverpool 3-1 Man City | |
| 2018/19 | Man City 2-1 Liverpool |
The modern-day rivalry between Liverpool and Man City only started in the 2013/14 season. Liverpool at that time under the guidance of coach Brendan Rodgers, Man City in the first season under Manuel Pellegrini and Chelsea of Jose Mourinho created a “three-horse” championship race in the Premier League.
Before round 36 took place, Liverpool was the team that held the advantage in the championship race with 3 points more than Man City. The “Red Brigade” entered the match against Chelsea with confidence, but Steven Gerrard’s slip ruined everything. Demba Ba punished that mistake and opened a 2-0 victory for Chelsea. After that defeat, Liverpool lost the championship to Man City.
Rivals
The feud between Liverpool and Man City only really formed when Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola came to England respectively. In the 2017/18 season, Man City led by Pep Guardiola defeated Klopp’s Liverpool 5-0 at Etihad’s home field on September 9, their biggest win against the “Red Brigade” in the Premier League era. .
Klopp – Pep Guardiola has raised the level of competition between Liverpool and Man City
However, Liverpool reclaimed their debt by winning 4-3 in the second leg at Anfield, causing Man City to receive their first defeat of the season, and ending the record unbeaten streak of the blue half of Manchester. After that, the two teams also met in the quarterfinals of the Champions League with a final 5-1 victory for Liverpool after 2 matches.
In the 2018/19 season, the rivalry between Liverpool and Man City has reached a new level, with the two teams creating a very tight race for the Premier League title. The two teams drew 0-0 at Anfield in the first leg, but in the second leg at the Etihad, Man City beat Liverpool 2-1. That match is remembered for the “classic” clearance right on the goal line by John Stones on Man City’s side.
That moment contributed to helping Man City win the championship in the closing round. The blue half of Manchester finished with 98 points, exactly 1 point more than Liverpool. Man City also won the FA Cup and League Cup to complete the “domestic treble”, and Liverpool won their sixth Champions League title after defeating Tottenham in the final.
By the 2019/20 season, Man City could not defend the Premier League championship. In contrast, Liverpool maintained impressive form throughout the season, including a 3-1 victory over Man City at Anfield.
Liverpool won the championship of the country’s highest tournament for the 19th time and the first time in the Premier League era. The “Red Brigade” won the championship with 99 points, the second highest in the history of England’s top tournament, 18 points ahead of Man City. The consolation for Man City in the 2019/20 season is that they crushed Liverpool with a score of 4-0 at Etihad’s home field.
In the 2020/21 season, everything reversed when Liverpool declined due to losing many key players due to injury. The “Red Brigade” drew 1-1 with Man City at Etihad, before being defeated 4-1 by the blue half of Manchester at home at Anfield.
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John Stones’ “classic” save right on the goal line against Liverpool
Man City “single-handedly” won the Premier League championship that season, in addition to winning the League Cup title for the fourth consecutive time. Man City also reached the final of the C1 Cup for the first time but lost to Chelsea.
In the 2021/22 season, Liverpool and Man City once again compete point by point in the Premier League championship race. The two teams drew 2-2 in both legs, both matches were tense and exciting.
Man City once again won the Premier League title in dramatic fashion in the closing round with 93 points, exactly 1 point more than Liverpool. And the “Red Brigade” won the League Cup and defeated Man City in the FA Cup semi-finals on the way to the coronation. That season, the Merseyside team also reached the Champions League final but lost to Real Madrid.
In the 2022/23 season, Liverpool’s decline in the Premier League makes them not even eligible to participate in the Champions League. The “Red Brigade” defeated Man City 1-0 in the first leg at Anfield, before the blue half of Manchester paid “both principal and interest” with a 4-1 victory in the second leg at Etihad.
Man City even enjoyed its most successful season to date, becoming the second English team to win the great “treble” of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. They also eliminated Liverpool in the fourth round of the League Cup, before stopping in the quarterfinals.
“New super classic” of English football
Journalists and experts have praised the quality of the rivalry between Liverpool and Man City. In 2022, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher described: “It is the best rivalry we have seen in English football… We have never seen the two best teams and two best managers in the world. compete with each other”. MU legend Gary Neville praised this as “a special competition of excellence and stability”.
In the same year, the BBC commented that “the rivalry between the two teams in recent years has taken the standard of English football to new heights”. In 2023, the Manchester Evening News even assessed that “the clash between the two clubs has now become the deciding factor of the season”.
A survey conducted in 2019 showed that the majority of Man City fans consider Liverpool, not MU, to be the biggest rival of the blue half of Manchester.
