Liverpool vs. Man City lineups, expected starting 11, team news and injuries: Konate and Bradley concerns for champions' visit

Premier League leaders Liverpool will be relishing the fate of the fixture schedule as they host defending champions Manchester City on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola's side are on their worst ever run of form during his near-decade-long tenure, without a win in their last six across all competitions.

That run includes five consecutive defeats followed by a midweek draw against Feyenoord in the Champions League that probably felt like a loss, with City 3-0 up with 73 minutes on the clock.

The blown lead against current Liverpool manager Arne Slot's former employers will serve as a particularly large boost for the Dutchman's confidence that his style and the Reds' in-form players will inflict further damage to City. Their 2-0 win over Real Madrid on Wednesday certainly underlined the impressive nature of their form this season.

A home victory would extend the lead between the two to 11 points, and furthermore would leave the titleholders mired in a scrap for positioning with as many as nine other teams in a tight top half.

The Sporting News looks at the latest team news and predicted lineups for this fixture at Anfield.

MORE: All the latest Man City news | Premier League schedule for 2024/25 | Latest Premier League top scorer rankings

Liverpool vs. Man City lineups, predicted starting 11, team news

Both goalkeeper Alisson and forward Diogo Jota are nearing returns from thigh and abdominal injuries, respectively, but Slot has confirmed that neither has much chance of being back in time for the Premier League crunch clash with City.

Trent Alexander-Arnold is back in training and, having sat out the win over Madrid, he could well return to the lineup given the excellent Conor Bradley appeared to suffer a muscle issue towards the end of that game.

The Reds' other main concern is around Ibrahima Konate, who seemed to hurt himself with the last act of the match as he prevented Endrick from running through on goal. The centre-back will face tests on the problem.

Federico Chiesa, meanwhile, is still only partaking in partial training sessions en route to what would be just his fourth appearance for the club he joined in the summer from Juventus, so the Italian will not be ready for the weekend.

Slot will also be without Konstantinos Tsimikas after the left-back injured his ankle in training, ruling one of the club's better performers in recent games out of two crucial contests this week.

Liverpool predicted lineup (4-3-3, right to left): Kelleher (GK) — Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson — Jones, Gravenberch, Mac Allister — Salah, Nunez, Diaz

Injured: Alisson (thigh), Jota (abdomen), Chiesa (undisclosed), Tsimikas (ankle), Konate (undisclosed), Bradley (muscle)
Suspended: None

MORE: All the latest Liverpool news | Premier League schedule for 2024/25 | Latest Premier League top scorer rankings

A key part of City's recent struggles has been multiple injuries, and top of the list is Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, who'll be fortunate to see any more action this season.

Mateo Kovacic is out until Christmas or just before, courtesy of an injury picked up on international duty, ruling out the team's best stand-in option for the Spaniard, while Oscar Bobb's leg fracture will delay the start of his season until the new year.

Defender John Stones is out indefinitely with a foot injury, but Jeremy Doku's quadriceps muscle complaint may be resolved in time for him to feature at Anfield and Ruben Dias could also return from a calf problem that has kept him out of City's recent rotten run.

Man City predicted lineup (4-3-3, right to left): Ederson (GK) — Walker, Dias, Akanji, Ake — De Bruyne, Gundogan, Silva — Foden, Haaland, Grealish

Injured: Rodri (knee), Kovacic (quadriceps), Stones (foot)
Suspended: None

Liverpool vs. Man City live stream, TV channel

Here's how to watch this Premier League match across selected areas of the world's major regions: