This weekend sees possibly the most important Premier League game of the season so far kick off at Anfield, as Liverpool host title rivals Manchester City. Both sides are matched fairly evenly with just a few games of the season remaining, with Liverpool just edging the race so far, being four points ahead of Sunday’s visitors. For that reason most are tipping the game to be a big decider in who will be lifting the trophy in March.

In fact, the build up to this has been continuing for several weeks now, since Liverpool really emerged as genuine title contenders. The costless-scoring pairing of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suárez is much of the reason they are where they are, with Champions League football almost a certainty for next year, but Brendan Rodgers, Steven Gerrard et al get as much credit as everybody else.

However, Manchester City’s recent return to their previous form, which dropped off around February could cause some worry for Liverpool. The Blues have lost just once in their previous 13 league games, which was their only league defeat of 2014 against Chelsea, over two months ago. David Silva is starting to look exactly like the player of two seasons ago again, whilst even Martin Demichelis is starting to improve and impress fans.

Both clubs in Sunday’s games feature some startling similarities. One of these is managers who, when they came in, had very little expected of them. Rodgers joined from Swansea City with very little experience under his belt, including just one season in the Premier League. It took him a while to properly take off in his new job, finishing 7th in his first year, but now everyone has come to see just how much that gamble has paid off. Meanwhile, Manuel Pellegrini was criticised when he joined City last summer due to a lack of silverware and English experience. However, the Chilean’s team has gone on to score 138 goals, and become one of the most formidable in the world.

Both sides have very few injury worries to contend themselves with prior to Sunday’s game. Liverpool have Daniel Agger (knee) returning, whilst José Enrique (also knee) is still absent. Manchester City also have a nearly-fit squad, missing just Matija Nastasić (knee). This means Sergio Agüero is finally back in the squad having missed a month down to injury, and could return with a bang on Sunday afternoon. The Argentine has been in training all week with no complications, and could well be in line to start at Anfield. Yaya Touré was also a doubt with a knock, but the Ivorian has recovered in time to play.

There will be very few things able to separate the two sides this Sunday afternoon, but one thing is for sure – this is a big game that could well decide the title. A draw or a win for the visitors could put them well on their way to the title, what with their two games in hand. However, Chelsea cannot be ruled out completely, and at this stage the race for the Premier League title is as wide as ever.