Premier League game of the week: A clash of coaches in City-Liverpool

On Klopp’s side: less perfection, maybe, but more heart, more energy and more verve. The German coach made his name on the back of the gegenpress, a tactic through which teams push up their defensive lines further and further to trap their opponents in their own halves. When played correctly Klopp’s gegenpress reads like a military assault; add in the breathtaking creativity of some of his players and the tactic becomes nigh unbeatable. Klopp’s teams often concede goals — you can’t avoid that when you play a line as high as he does — but they score in droves, making them a neutral’s dream. Klopp and his men have the self-belief to challenge anyone, on any day, in any situation. They are the bleeding-heart collective to Guardiola’s well-oiled machine.

Today, Guardiola and Klopp are first and second in the Premier League. Their meeting this week could have massive implications on the final table this season. Can City extend its stellar home record and send Liverpool packing? Can Liverpool ride its unshakable self-belief all the way to a famous victory? It’s very nearly too close to call; traditional odds just don’t underline how fiercely these two teams and leaders have battled one another over the past decade. There’s a lot to like about this game — here's what we’re watching as this classic rivalry enters its second decade.

Player to Score or Assist — All eyes — and odds — are on Erling Haaland when it comes to scoring stats. The Norwegian striker is chasing down the Premier League record for fewest number of games needed to hit a half-century of goals. He’s currently sitting pretty on 49, and if he’s fit for this game, he’ll view it as a special opportunity to crash yet another statistic.

Here’s the thing: Haaland doesn’t score against Liverpool. He’s yet to find the back of the net against the Reds in any competition. That, coupled with his extreme odds (most betting sites seem to operate as if Haaland will score in every game, and you can hardly blame them) make him an unattractive bet at this time. We’ve got our eyes on his Liverpool counterpart instead, Uruguayan wildman Darwin Nuñez. While Nuñez isn’t quite as reliable as Haaland when it comes to finding the back of the net, he’s provided a glut of assists when he hasn’t scored. At +140 to score or assist at any time, he’s a fascinating choice here.

Player to be Booked — Neither City nor Liverpool are particularly "dirty" teams; it’s unlikely that this match will feature as many cards as, say, Tottenham vs Aston Villa. But with two factions equally devoted to forward-thinking play, there will certainly be a few professional fouls committed to break up promising attacks. We’ve got our eyes on Man City’s Ruben Dias on this one — he gave up the game-tying penalty against Chelsea two weekends ago and seems likely to make desperate decisions against Salah and Nuñez. At +300 to be carded, he’s a punt worth taking.

Corners. With two attack-minded teams, you’d think this game would be full of corners — but not quite. When Chelsea and Arsenal took points off City this season, they did so by pressing high and forcing City back into its own half. Liverpool is almost guaranteed to leverage that same tactic.

So while City generated 12 corners against, say, Bournemouth, it only managed to average 3.5 against Chelsea and Arsenal. With that in mind, betting on this game to have fewer than 8 corners feels like an interesting option at +225.