Liverpool predicted XI vs. Man City: four major changes made as £142m quartet return for Etihad trip

Liverpool will face their biggest challenge of the Premier League season so far when they come up against champions Manchester City on Saturday afternoon. The Reds travel to the Etihad in the lunchtime kick-off knowing that a win would take them two points clear of Pep Guardiola's men at the summit of the table.

Jurgen Klopp's side saw off Brentford comfortably in a 3-0 victory last time out, with a Mohamed Salah brace and a strike from Diogo Jota proving too much for the Bees. Prior to that win, the Reds had not lost in the top flight since September 30th, when they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur in controversial fashion. It remains their only loss of the domestic campaign thus far.

For their part, City had won three on the bounce before being pegged back by Chelsea in a thrilling 4-4 at Stamford Bridge earlier in the month, with Erling Haaland scoring a near-customary brace alongside goals from Manuel Akanji and Rodri. City are on an unbeaten run of six matches, having not lost since they suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal in early October.

But how will both sides line up in Manchester this weekend? We've taken a closer look at their respective team news below...

Liverpool Team News

Liverpool boast a relatively clean bill of health heading into the weekend, with several players returning to action after surviving recent fitness scares. The Reds confirmed that Ibrahima Konate, Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones, and Joe Gomez have all trained after missing out on the win over Brentford prior to the international break, while Alisson Becker, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, and Alexis Mac Allister have also been in action at Melwood after overcoming knocks of their own.

Likewise, Kostas Tsimikas is also available despite withdrawing from Greece's squad for their game with France earlier in the week. The left-back is likely to fill in for Andy Robertson, who is making good progress after undergoing shoulder surgery, even if he is set to be sidelined for a while to come.

Robertson aside, Liverpool's only other expected absentees are Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic, with neither expected to play again before the end of the year.

Liverpool Predicted XI

Alisson Becker; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Kostas Tsimikas; Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai; Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz.

Manchester City Team News

City's biggest injury concern pertains to Erling Haaland, who is understood to be in a race against time to be fit for Saturday's match after missing Norway's recent international clash with Scotland due to an ankle injury that was causing him 'so much pain'. The scoring sensation was, however, pictured in training on Thursday, and may well be okay to lead the line against Liverpool.

Elsewhere, Ederson - who also trained on Thursday - and Nathan Ake both withdrew from international duty, while Mateo Kovacic is expected to miss a couple of weeks with a quad injury. There is better news regarding Rodri, however, with the Spanish midfielder playing 86 minutes against Georgia for his country following an apparent return to full fitness.

Kevin De Bruyne remains out, John Stones is likely to be touch and go, and Matheus Nunes and Sergio Gomez are also sidelined.

Man City Predicted XI

Ederson; Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Manuel Akanji; Rodri, Bernardo Silva; Jack Grealish, Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden; Erling Haaland.