Liverpool v Man City Timeline & H2H Stats

There is an ancient proverb that states “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, and on that basis, Liverpool and Manchester City should be friends, rather than rivals. Whilst their mutual dislike of Manchester United certainly unifies them to a degree, in recent years at least, they have become bona fide adversaries.

Battles between Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola were about high-class football and respect, rather than the animosity that characterised some of the battles between Sir Alex Ferguson’s great Man United sides and their rivals, chiefly Arsenal. Pep and Jürgen were far more likely to be praising the other’s team and coaching abilities than be engaged in a war of words and there was certainly no pizza thrown.

Whilst this has to be viewed as a modern rivalry, Liverpool and City first went head-to-head for the title back in 1976/77. The Reds pipped the Mancunians to the old First Division by a single point, Liverpool recording the most wins that term but City the fewest losses. It was a brilliant year for Bob Paisley’s side, as they also won the European Cup and were runners-up in the FA Cup.

For the Reds, this was very much the norm. However, for City, their title challenge, which faltered when they drew two of their last four games (including the penultimate match of the season, against Everton), was something of a flash in the pan. The fact they were not competing regularly at the top of the table – and dropped out of the First Division in 1983 – meant that an adversarial relationship did not develop between the two until around 40 years after their first title battle.

Liverpool appointed Klopp in October 2015 but it took him until the 2017/18 season to really start turning the club around. The Premier League rivalry between City and Liverpool really flourished from 2018/19 and if Arne Slot continues Klopp’s fine work it could yet grow further.

In 2018/19, the Reds amassed a huge 97 points but lost out to City, who won their final 14 league games to win the title by a point. The following year they had the upper hand, recording 99 points to win their first Premier League trophy, with City second. In 2020/21, the Reds slipped a little but the rivalry continued to grow and in 2021/22 the two again went head-to-head, City winning the title by a point after a final-day fightback.

Since 2016, these rivals have also met in the Community Shield twice, as well as in the 2016 League Cup final and the 2022 FA Cup showpiece. This has fuelled the rivalry further and we are excited to see what happens in the future.

Liverpool’s Full Match History Against Man City