Newly crowned Premier League champions, Liverpool return to action for the first time since claiming the title, facing former champions, Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

The Blues handed their Premier League crown over to Merseyside last Thursday night, after a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea made it mathematically impossible for them to catch Jurgen Klopp's side.

Pep Guardiola and his side are expected to give the newly crowned champions a guard of honour before kick off on Thursday night.

Recent Form

Apart from the loss at Stamford Bridge in their last outing, the Blues' post-lockdown form has been perfect winning all three of their other outings, keeping three clean sheets and scoring 10 goals in the process.

For the visitors it's been business as usual, as they have gone unbeaten since the return of football, with a win and a draw from their two games.

Last Time Out

The hosts recorded a comfortable victory in their last outing, defeating Newcastle 2-0 at St James' Park in the quarter-final of the FA Cup, thanks to goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling.

The Reds, who haven't played in over a week also go into the game on the back of a win, after defeating Crystal Palace 4-0 at Anfield with goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, Fabinho and Sadio Mane.

Last Time They Met

The last time these two locked horns resulted in a victory for Klopp's side, as they ran out 3-0 winners at Anfield in a game riddled with VAR controversies.

Manchester City Team News

The hosts will be without Fernandinho after his sending off at Chelsea last week, whilst star striker, Sergio Aguero will also be sidelined after being ruled out for the rest of the Premier League season due to an injury picked up against Burnley just over a week ago.

Young defender, Eric Garcia could return after recovering from a head injury, whilst Leroy Sane is also still expected to be part of the squad despite reportedly agreeing to join Bayern Munich this week.

Liverpool Team News

Joel Matip and Xherdan Shaqiri will both miss the clash at the Etihad Stadium through injury, whilst former City man, James Milner also remains sidelined after limping off against Everton two weeks ago.

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