Just before the goal, Raheem Sterling should really have scored after being set up in the middle by Gabriel Jesus. His effort was saved superbly by Alisson.

The Liverpool keeper could do nothing with that diverted De Bruyne strike.

Such a massive moment in this title race.

Peter Schmeichel
Former Manchester City goalkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Live

Very, very good atmosphere inside the Etihad. One of the big talking points was how City would line the front three up. At the start here it is Phil Foden on the left, Raheem Sterling central and Gabriel Jesus on the right.

First little mistake at the back. It is City who commit it, with Diogo Jota almost dispossessing Aymeric Laporte before the defender recovers and clears.

Nerves, you see. They do funny things.

Andrew Griffin: It’ll be a cagey game that Liverpool will edge 1-0.

Virgil van Dijk lets Gabriel Jesus know he is there by shoving the City striker to the turf on halfway. Not messing about.

Not the most seamless of starts from City. Kyle Walker takes an age over a throw deep in Liverpool territory and then Bernardo Silva handballs while controlling.

Well, if Liverpool's players feared facing a hostile atmosphere ahead of this game, they needn't have worried.

Maybe those nerves have taken a bit of the edge off the home support?

This young lad is loving it though...

Image source, Getty Images

It is the biggest game of the season, one that will possibly go a long to deciding the Premier League title.

It is under way. Enjoy yourselves, everyone.

Stuff is about to get very real.

Here come the teams - the two best in the country.

Image source, BBC Sport

Lawro's prediction: 2-2

This is the big one. Both teams got good results in the Champions League in midweek, but it was much tougher for City against Atletico Madrid than it was for Liverpool versus Benfica.

I am expecting a good game because you don't get anything else with two teams as talented as these, and with the way they both play.

At different times, one team or the other will be on top - it will just come down to who can take their chances when they come. It will be close, and there will be a few goals.

I don't see it as a title decider because there are still seven games to go after this. Whoever wins, the pressure is still on, but I am going for a draw anyway.

Tom's prediction: You set yourself up for a fall when you make a call like this, but I think we will do it. 1-0

Joe's prediction: It will be close, but I'm backing us too. 2-1

Find out how Lawro, Tom and Joe think the rest of the weekend's fixtures will go

There are a lot of very anxious-looking supporters in this crowd.

There have been a few chants of 'Liverpool' from the away end, but mainly the two sets of fans are chewing nails and staring hopefully into the middle distance.

Image source, Getty Images

In 2018 Manchester City set new standards in the Premier League by scoring 106 goals and amassing 100 points. Liverpool finished 25 points back in fourth place.

But since then there has been very little between the teams. During these four campaigns they are separated by just a single point - the same margin that keeps them apart in the table after 30 games now.

Liverpool's improvement this season - they finished third and 17 points adrift of City in 2020-21 - is partly down to avoiding the injuries that scuppered that campaign, but it is also in large part because of their attacking prowess.

Gracenote data shows they are now taking more shots than in any of the six previous seasons in which Jurgen Klopp has managed the club. Liverpool have had 557 goal attempts in 2021-22, an increase of nearly 30% compared with this stage of last season - and their highest since the German took charge in 2015.

Liverpool's attack is therefore more potent than City's for the first time since Pep Guardiola's first season in the Premier League, creating more opportunities and needing fewer shots to score than City.

Take a look at the other tiny margins that could help separate the teams

Image source, BBC Sport

Is Manchester City v Liverpool a title decider? A Football News Show special looks at what impact Sunday’s game can have on the rest of the season.

Have a watch here.

There is just one point separating Manchester City and Liverpool over the past four seasons, the same margin between the two clubs in the league this season, the title race could come down to the fine margins.

Data experts Nielsen Gracenote rate Manchester City as the best team in Europe right now, closely followed by Liverpool.

That ranking, coupled with the fact they are at home on Sunday, means City are Gracenote's favourites to win the Premier League. Their Euro Club Index estimates a 61% chance of City lifting the trophy, compared with 39% for Jurgen Klopp's team.

As you might expect, though, the result of Sunday's meeting can make a huge difference to the prospects of both teams.

Victory for Pep Guardiola's side will increase their chance of lifting the trophy to 86% and reduce Liverpool's to 14%.

But an away win will make the Reds favourites, with a 68% chance of finishing first, compared with City's 32%.

A draw between the two will produce little change in the current situation, with City's chance of becoming champions increasing slightly to 63%, with Liverpool on 37%.

John Gibbons,The Anfield Wrap, external

We have been building up to Sunday's game for months.

It felt like it could be a massive game when the fixtures came out in the summer and it certainly is now. The title race couldn't be closer and, whileCitywill be glad to be at home, Liverpool go into the game arguably in better form. I would imagine every football fan in the country will be watching or listening to see what happens.

City are obviously pretty scary when in full flow so I think Jurgen Klopp will try to stifle and harass the opposition as much as we can to make life as difficult as possible for the home team. For that reason I think he might start Naby Keita, who is our best presser, over someone like Thaigo, who is nicer on the ball. But he picked both in Lisbon and may do again.

From a City point of view, both Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva seem to love playing against Liverpool and so worry me the most. I would quite like to see one of them start on the bench.

I fancy Liverpool to sneak it 2-1. We just seem to have more goals in us at the moment and our attacking options mean we'll be able to hold at least two quality options back.

Diogo Jota to win it from the bench and send Liverpool top of the league is my prediction!

We've been speaking with fans from both camps before the mouth-watering game between Manchester City and Liverpool on Sunday.

Ger Deegan from Maine Road Ramble , externaland Ste Hoare from The Redmen TV , externalhave given their thoughts on the title showdown.

Which opposition player are you most worried about?

GD: It isn’t anything new to say Liverpool have heavily depended on Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino but now they have much more flexibility and depth in Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota. Whatever combination of the three that start, I expect them to cause problems. City need to be clued in when in possession to avoid being overwhelmed by the bloodhounds up front.

SH: Kevin de Bruyne is the Manchester City player who concerns me the most. He has the ability to unpick any defence in world football and there’s not much you can do to stop him as he’s so good at finding pockets of space. Phil Foden is another who worries me. He’s had some very good games against us and my guess is that Pep Guardiola will put him on the left to try to exploit any space in-behind Trent Alexander-Arnold. Trent will need to be switched on to deal with the threat of Foden.

How will your manager approach the game?

GD: Pep Guardiola is a man addicted to control, in every facet of the game. He did not enjoy how his teams were pulled about by Liverpool in his initial encounters, particularly the high-scoring end-to-end games we saw in 2017/2018. In a 0-0 draw at Anfield in October 2018, he realised he could use Bernardo Silva as a holding midfielder to stifle Klopp’s pressing and that limited the amount of times his team got caught by Liverpool traps when City tried to play out from the back. Since then, they have only lost one of seven meetings, winning four and drawing three. That’s an impressive feat considering the level both have been at for some time.

SH: Jurgen Klopp will set Liverpool out to simply be Liverpool. We’ll have a high line, we’ll press from the front and we’ll try to play through at a high tempo. In recent games against City, they’ve forced us to play wide rather than through the middle. Thiago is the man we need to play well as that will allow us to play centrally and feed balls into the front three, rather than everything going out wide.

Why will your team win?

GD: It’s going to be nervy given the magnitude of what it could mean but I expect City to be measured. We are still a point ahead which means the onus will be more on Liverpool to win the game, which may leave space to capitalise on and, regardless of the result, it’s going to be a tight end to the season. I wouldn’t swap our team for anyone’s and believe when firing on all cylinders we are the best team in the country. I hope they can prove that again on Sunday.

SH: I think it’ll be a close game and have already predicted a 1-1 draw but if we do win, which we are absolutely capable of, it’ll be because our forwards can outgun City. We just need one of those five players to be on top form and that will give us a huge chance to get the win.

Image source, BBC Sport

• Manchester City have lost just one of their past 12 Premier League home games against Liverpool (W7 D4), going down 4-1 in Jurgen Klopp’s first visit to Etihad Stadium in the competition in November 2015.
• Liverpool are winless in four Premier League games against City (D2 L2) – only once in the competition have they had a longer run without a win against them (5 between November 2011 and December 2013).
• City’s Phil Foden has scored in each of his past three Premier League games against Liverpool, and could become just the second player to score in four straight appearances against the Reds in the competition after Jamie Vardy (5 between 2016 and 2017).
• Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has scored in four of his past five Premier League games against City, including each of his past three in a row. The last player to score in four consecutive Premier League appearances against the Citizens was Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who did so in five in a row between December 2000 and October 2003.