Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp will meet Manchester City and Liverpool in the League Cup round of 16.
What a game to reboot both of their campaigns.
[ LIVE: Manchester City vs Liverpool updates ]
Guardiola and City love the League Cup, having won four of the last five editions and six of the last nine. They have dominated this tournament in recent years, but they may be missing a lot of key players for this match at Etihad Stadium. After a shock defeat to Brentford In the Premier League before the World Cup break, City will be looking to get out of the traps as they aim to win it all in 2023.
As for Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool, They are the current holders of this competition having won both the League Cup Final and the FA Cup on penalties against Chelsea. Last season. Klopp is also missing some key players, but Liverpool play a lot of friendlies in the middle of the season and should be a bit closer to full fitness.
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Here’s everything you need for the Manchester City vs Liverpool match.
How to watch the Manchester City vs Liverpool match live, broadcast link and start time
Kickoff: 3 p.m. ET, Thursday (December 22)
Live updates from NBCSports.com
Online: stream across ESPN+
Right where he left!!
Erling Haaland puts City ahead β‘ pic.twitter.com/PdMmP6JTCC
– ESPN FC (ESPNFC) December 22, 2022
Carvalho raises the level of Liverpool π₯ pic.twitter.com/9Ax6m8K6ui
– ESPN+ (ESPNPlus) December 22, 2022
Mahrez gives City the lead!! π₯ pic.twitter.com/EftwaFs0PZ
– ESPN+ (ESPNPlus) December 22, 2022
This game!!!
Salah scores right after Mahrez to make it 2-2 π± pic.twitter.com/7WnrwJ6aS1
– ESPN FC (ESPNFC) December 22, 2022
De Bruyne puts it on a plate for Nathan Ake π― pic.twitter.com/4yYZOAAEXQ
– ESPN FC (ESPNFC) December 22, 2022
Major storylines
All eyes will be on Erling Haaland, who has six weeks to rest and no doubt hungry to add to his 23 goals in 18 appearances for Manchester City so far this season. With Julian Alvarez still celebrating Argentina win the World Cup In his home country, there is more pressure on Haaland to deliver the goods. Fortunately, he didn’t seem worried about anything.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp gave his youngsters plenty of minutes during the mid-season friendlies, but the likes of Mo Salah, Thiago Alcantara, Joel Matip, Andy Robertson and Roberto Firmino have been around the whole time so they should all feel fresh. Manchester City and Liverpool have both commented positively on the return of their players to the World Cup in fresh, sharp form after taking part in major World Cup matches just a week or so ago.
Manchester City team news, injuries, and lineup options
Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan will feature after their early World Cup exits. While the likes of Joao Cancelo, Robin Dias, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and John Stones all returned to training the day before this match against Liverpool. Ederson will be back from Brazil soon, so Stefan Ortega will start in goal.
π΅ π§πππ π‘ππͺπ¦ π΅
eleventh | Ortega Moreno, Luis, Akanji, Laporte, Ake, Rodrygo, De Bruyne, Gundogan (midfield), Mahrez, Haaland, Palmer
Branches | Carson, Walker, Stones, Cancelo, Grealish, Gomez, Bernardo, Foden, Robertson#Manchester City | @employee pic.twitter.com/fbU1Uc5FLu
– Manchester City (@ManCity) December 22, 2022
Liverpool team news, injuries, and squad options
Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Arthur Melo remain out with injuries, while Curtis Jones is almost fit and should feature over the festive period. Liverpool’s England and Brazil teams are both back in training and available.
Team news is in! ππ΄
Here’s how we line up against Manchester City tonight π #MCILIV
– Liverpool FC (LFC) December 22, 2022