Liverpool vs. Man City: Key Stats Ahead of Premier League Match

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola follows the Champions League, group G match between FC Copenhagen and Manchester City, at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday Oct.11, 2022. (AP)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola follows the Champions League, group G match between FC Copenhagen and Manchester City, at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday Oct.11, 2022. (AP)
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Liverpool vs. Man City: Key Stats Ahead of Premier League Match

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola follows the Champions League, group G match between FC Copenhagen and Manchester City, at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday Oct.11, 2022. (AP)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola follows the Champions League, group G match between FC Copenhagen and Manchester City, at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday Oct.11, 2022. (AP)

The following are key statistics ahead of Sunday's Premier League game between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield, provided by Nielsen Gracenote.

Champions City are second in the table with 23 points, a point behind Arsenal, while Liverpool are 10th with 10 points.

Key stats
* City have won four league titles since Pep Guardiola took over in 2016 while Liverpool have won only one despite losing fewer games in that period.

* Guardiola's City (2.36) and Juergen Klopp's Liverpool (2.19) are the only two Premier League teams to average at least two points per game since the start of the 2016-17 season. The next best club is Chelsea (1.94).

* City have scored 80 more goals and conceded 24 fewer than Liverpool since Guardiola took charge at the club.

* The average age of Liverpool's starting lineup is over 28 years old -- the oldest since Klopp took charge. The average age was just over 25 in the 2015-16 season.

* Liverpool have 12 points fewer in eight games than they took in comparable fixtures last season while City have three points more in nine games.

* Liverpool have conceded the first goal in six of their eight matches this season, winning only one and drawing three of those. Last season they won four and drew two after conceding the first goal in the last six matches they went behind.

* Guardiola's City have taken only five points out of a possible 18 at Anfield but have not lost there since Liverpool won the league in 2019-20 (W1 D1).

* Liverpool have lost four times to Guardiola's City in the Premier League -- more than against any other team.



Sinner and Alcaraz Breeze through Shanghai Masters Openers

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts during his Men's Singles match against Juncheng Shang of China at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai, China, 05 October 2024. (EPA)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts during his Men's Singles match against Juncheng Shang of China at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai, China, 05 October 2024. (EPA)
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Sinner and Alcaraz Breeze through Shanghai Masters Openers

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts during his Men's Singles match against Juncheng Shang of China at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai, China, 05 October 2024. (EPA)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts during his Men's Singles match against Juncheng Shang of China at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai, China, 05 October 2024. (EPA)

Carlos Alcaraz and top-ranked Jannik Sinner showed no signs of fatigue from their China Open final earlier this week to advance with comfortable straight-set victories in their opening matches of the Shanghai Masters on Saturday.

The second-ranked Alcaraz, who beat the Italian in Beijing on Wednesday for his fourth title of the year, recorded his 10th consecutive win with a 6-2, 6-2 result against 19-year-old Shang Juncheng of China.

The 21-year-old Spaniard won the first nine points of the match and four of seven break points as he rushed into a third-round meeting with another Chinese player, Wu Yibing.

“I’m not used to playing against players younger than me,” Alcaraz said. “He has been playing good tennis lately, lifting his first ATP (title in Chengdu), so I’m pretty sure he’s going to climb the rankings. I’m just happy to to be able to win these kinds of matches.”

Sinner, who is dealing with an ongoing doping case, had a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 outing against Taro Daniel of Japan for his 250th career win.

The Italian, who won the US Open last month for his second major of the year, fired 12 aces and 38 winners.

“I felt quite comfortable today,” said the 23-year-old Sinner, who next plays Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina. “I feel in good shape also physically, which is very important for me. Of course I will try to improve for tomorrow’s performance, but today I was serving really, really well, especially in important moments, and was moving well.”

No. 65-ranked Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic broke sixth-ranked Andrey Rublev seven times on his way to an upset 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-3 victory.

Yosuke Watanuki also had a surprise win, beating No. 35-ranked Brendan Nakashima 7-6 (4), 6-3. The Japanese qualifier plays either seventh-ranked Taylor Fritz of the US or French qualifier Terence Atmane next.

Also, 24th-ranked Alexei Popyrin of Australia beat Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-2.

Later Saturday, third-ranked Alexander Zverev began his campaign against Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci, while fourth-ranked Novak Djokovic faced Alex Michelsen of the United States.