Prediction & odds for the game: Manchester City (21/20) v Liverpool (23/10)

When: Thursday, 2nd July @ 8.15pm K.O

Where: Etihad Stadium

Manchester City will give Premier League champions Liverpool a guard of honour when the title rivals meet at the Etihad on Thursday night.

Manchester City

The Premier League title is no longer in the possession of Manchester City, and you just know that hurts Pep Guardiola. Still, there’s no time to sit and wallow around, because there’s a lot left for the club to play for this season. In addition to trying to stop Liverpool’s surge towards a record points total in the EPL, City will also be eager to try and win the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. Whether or not they’re still motivated enough to get the job done, though, remains to be seen.

City have been the busier of the two teams since lockdown restrictions were lifted, with four games under their belt already. They tore through Arsenal and Burnley in 3-0 and 5-0 wins respectively, but their big undoing came at the hands of Chelsea who ended their title run in a 2-1 defeat for Pep’s men. Thankfully for them, they got back to winning ways on Tyneside as they beat Newcastle this past weekend to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.

Liverpool

After 30 years of hurt, Liverpool are finally the Champions of England once again after being guided to the title by the one and only Jurgen Klopp. Now, with no other competitions to focus on until next season, the focus will shift towards trying to claim the record Premier League points total. Sure, it may be tempting for them to take their foot off of the gas, but the boss will still be eager to remind the rest of the top flight why this has been such an impressive campaign for the red half of Merseyside.

After a great deal of speculation over whether the season would even restart, Liverpool fans weren’t exactly treated to a classic in their return as they drew 0-0 with city rivals Everton. They did manage to win their next outing, though, battering Crystal Palace 4-0 at Anfield.

Conclusion

We’ve seen quite a few games so far this season that have failed to live up to expectations, and while you could argue that’s because of there being no fans in attendance, we’re choosing to believe things will liven up as we head towards the end of the season. Alas, we still don’t believe that this is going to be the kind of classic showdown that it could be if there was more on the line, which is why we’re predicting a rather drab draw between the two juggernauts.

We also aren’t expecting too many goals, and therefore, we’re backing the under 2.5 goals market.

Verdict: Back the draw at odds of 29/10 and the under 2.5 goals scored at odds of 11/8. (All odds are taken from bet365).

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