One of English football’s classic matches gets underway on Sunday afternoon, with Manchester City’s ongoing problems off the field being impossible to ignore. But on the field, it could be an unpredictable match, but one where Liverpool playmaker Dominic Szoboszlai looks a good bet for at least one shot on target.
Betting Tip: Szoboszlai to Have 1 or More Shots on Target
It’s been an inconsistent start to the season so far for Liverpool, with back-to-back 2-2 draws followed by a handy 2-0 win at Ipswich, yet another draw (0-0) at Fulham, before a hard-fought but well-deserved 1-0 win at Bournemouth has left them sitting in sixth place ahead of the three-week international break.
- Bet: Dominic Szoboszlai to have 1 or more shots on target
- Odds: 2.1
Dominic Szoboszlai, Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister have been their usual consistent selves, while new signing Jeremy Jacquet impressed in defence.
But the biggest positive so far has been Alexander Isak's goalscoring form. After missing most of last season with injury, he’s started in the best possible way, with four goals in five matches, and has plenty more work ahead of him now that Mo Salah is no longer at the club and Hugo Etikitike has been ruled out with an Achilles injury until December.
But he picked up a slight knock during the international break, so we don’t know if he’s fit for this one; he’ll be a huge loss to the hosts if he’s not.
As for Manchester City, all the talk about them during the international break concerned the hundreds of financial offences they were found guilty of over the last few seasons, and we’ll have to wait and see what fines and bans come their way. Relegation is also on the table.
What may have been forgotten amid all this is that, on the field, they’ve won all five league matches, plus wins in both the Champions League and the League Cup. So whatever is happening in courts and executive offices isn’t affecting performances once they get out on the pitch, though the mood may have changed since they were last in action.
Liverpool have had a slight edge at Anfield in this game over the past five seasons, winning two, drawing two, and losing one, but both sides have been well-matched.
Add City’s future problems and the prolonged international break to the equation, and it’s not an easy match to predict, so instead we’ll focus on one player rather than the whole game: Hungarian superstar Szoboszlai.
So far this season, he's had at least one shot on target in three of his five games, and he had three against Ipswich. He’s so far scored against Newcastle, Atletico Madrid and Tottenham. We also note that he scored in this fixture last year (before being sent off late on) and that he’s their penalty-taker now that Salah has left. So he should have plenty of opportunities to get at least one shot on target in the game.
Did You Know?
When City hosted Liverpool in April this year at the end of the 2025-6 season, it was very much one-way traffic with City winning 4-0 and Erling Haaland scoring a hat-trick in it. It certainly wasn’t the only one: he has 27 career hat-tricks, including 12 for City and six for Norway.
Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk is no stranger to this fixture. Since joining the Reds in 2018, he’s played for them against City on 20 occasions and has a good record against them, winning nine, losing six and drawing five.
He’s 12.0 to score a goal, 25.0 to be the first goalscorer, 1.75 to have 1 or more shots on target, and 5.0 to be shown a card this time around.
