Golden Goals Matchday 28: Can Manchester City break Anfield fortress?

Irresistible force meets immovable object on Matchday 28 as Liverpool and Manchester City clash in the biggest game of the season so far with a place at the summit of the Premier League table on the line.

Both sides had to overcome adversity on Matchday 27. Manchester City found themselves behind at home to their arch-rivals Manchester United before a second-half brace from Phil Foden turned the derby on its head.

While Liverpool looked to be set for a sole point against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground before a controversial winner from Darwin Nunez in the dying embers stole all three points for Jurgen Klopp’s men. Nunez’s 99th minute clinched the victory for Liverpool but it also became the latest winning Premier League goal on record.

That game wasn’t the only one to see late drama last weekend. Every single fixture had a goal beyond the 80th-minute mark.

Should we expect more nail-biting finales this weekend? Let’s take a closer look at Matchday 28 – and remember, if you can pick the six correct scorelines you could win up to £1 million.

Crystal Palace vs Luton

Form (all competitions) Crystal Palace: LWDLL Luton: LLLLD

We are in must-win territory now for Luton Town in the Premier League. Despite performing admirably, the Hatters just haven’t put enough points on the board to avoid being in the midst of the drop zone.

Once again, they fought valiantly last time out against high-flying Aston Villa. After going 2-0 down early in the match, they battled back to make things level before Lucas Digne’s 89th-minute header left them six consecutive games without a win in all competitions.

It was just another case of Rob Edwards’s side being the nearly-men of the Premier League this season. Saturday evening’s narrow defeat was the 10th time Luton had lost by a single goal this campaign – the joint-most of any team in the league alongside Nottingham Forest.

The travelling outfit can feel buoyed by their last performance against this weekend’s opponents, a 2-1 victory at Kenilworth Road back in November which was then their first home win of the entire campaign.

It’s a new-look Crystal Palace now though. Oliver Glasner is at the helm and he has already made his mark on his new team despite an indifferent start with one win and one defeat.

But no matter who is in the dugout, Eberechi Eze continues to shine in a Palace shirt. Last weekend at Tottenham, his magical free kick launched the Eagles in front and took his tally to six goals in only 14 starts this campaign. His 0.43 goals per 90 minutes is only bettered in the Palace squad by Michael Olise, who is currently enduring another spell on the sidelines.

Plus, Selhurst Park finally looks back at its formidable best. The Eagles have won three of their last four games on their home patch, which is as many as they achieved in the first 13 games at home this season.

Glasner and company should continue this impressive stretch and grab another three points here.

Prediction: Crystal Palace 3-1 Luton

Bournemouth vs Sheffield United

Form (all competitions) Bournemouth: WLDLD Sheffield United: LLLWL

It can’t get much worse for Sheffield United, can it?

The Blades were well and truly blunted by Arsenal last weekend, finding themselves 6-0 down by the full-time whistle. Worse still, this was the fourth straight home game in all competitions that Sheffield United have conceded five or more goals.

This was also the sixth time in the Premier League alone that they have shipped five or more this campaign, becoming only the third team to achieve such an undesirable record.

Unfortunately for fans of the Yorkshire outfit, the damning defensive statistics do not stop there. Their 72 goals conceded is the worst record of any side in the top four tiers of English football at this stage of the season since 1997-98, when Doncaster Rovers had conceded 73.

It does not make much better reading on the road for Chris Wilder’s side either. They have amassed the lowest points tally on their travels of any team (five) as well as suffering the most defeats (10), scoring the fewest goals (10) and conceding the most (30).

Enough with the negativity, though, because it’s all smiles on the south coast for Andoni Iraola and Bournemouth after their win at Burnley last weekend snapped a seven-game winless stretch. Ironically, the Cherries' last extended run without a win (13) also ended against Burnley earlier in the season. They went on to win seven of their next nine outings.

One of the men on the scoresheet last weekend against Vincent Kompany’s side was Justin Kluivert and he is someone to look out for this weekend as well. The son of the legendary Netherlands attacker Patrick Kluivert found the net earlier in the season against Sheffield United and averages the second-highest goal-per-shot ratio among Bournemouth attackers behind only leading scorer and England Euro 2024 squad hopeful Dominic Solanke.

Essentially, this has a Bournemouth win written all over it. Since returning to the Premier League, the Cherries have not lost a single game to a newly-promoted side with five wins and two draws.

Add in Sheffield United’s atrocious away record and the question may even become how many Bournemouth will win by.

Prediction: Bournemouth 4-0 Sheffield United

Wolves vs Fulham

Form (all competitions) Wolves: LWWLW Fulham: WWLWD

Marco Silva’s Fulham are flying at the moment. First, they knocked off Champions League-chasing Manchester United on their turf with a 2-1 victory then they defeated another European contender in Brighton without a hitch.

Once again, it was Rodrigo Muniz leading the way for the Cottagers. The Brazilian frontman netted his fifth goal in as many games, taking him level with both Raul Jimenez and Bobby Decordova-Reid as the team’s joint-top scorers. His five goals this campaign are also the most by a Fulham player aged 22 or younger in the Premier League since 2005-06.

There is, however, another pair of players that seem to haunt Wolves in both Willian and Alex Iwobi. The former has been involved in four goals in his last five meetings with the Midlands side, scoring two and assisting two, while the latter has more league goals (four) against Wolves than he has any other opponent.

Keep an eye out for Adama Traore’s likely impact off of the bench in this one too. The speedy Spanish winger has a goal and assist in his last two fixtures despite only playing a combined 19 minutes.

Gary O’Neil sympathised with Eddie Howe’s injury problems before last weekend’s game at Newcastle which was no surprise when Wolves are going through a small injury crisis of their own.

That looked to have worsened last week when both Jose Sa and Pedro Neto were forced off. Fortunately, both are set to return to action this week with Wolves fans no doubt ecstatic at the comeback of Neto in particular. The Portuguese forward is the joint-second-most creative player in the Premier League with nine assists on the campaign – three more than any other player in O’Neil’s squad.

Even with Neto’s return, fans at Molineux will be yearning for Matheus Cunha and Hwang Hee-chan’s comebacks. Both are reportedly out until at least the end of the month, a sore miss considering they are the current top two goalscorers in the Wolves squad with nine and ten goals respectively.

Fulham are turning their away form around with four points from the last two matches on their travels, which is more than their previous 10 away from Craven Cottage. This run will likely extend here but it will be by one point rather than three.

Prediction: Wolves 2-2 Fulham

West Ham vs Burnley

Form (all competitions) West Ham: LLWWL Burnley: DLLLL

West Ham have bounced back from a rocky period in the Premier League with back-to-back wins over Brentford and Everton. They have scored seven goals in the process, which is more than they managed in the eight games beforehand.

Manager David Moyes remains under pressure somewhat but he has got his team through a sticky patch of league form and the race remains on for European football while their Europa League run endures.

Despite the perception of poor form they have already amassed more victories than last year – winning 12 games and scoring 43 goals in this campaign versus 11 victories and 42 goals in the entirety of last season.

James Ward-Prowse has been a revelation for the Hammers since signing from Southampton in the summer and has his seven assists this season is more than any other West Ham player.

In the dubious pantheon of poor Premier League campaigns, Burnley’s current season could be right up there unless Vincent Kompany can work miracles on his confidence-shorn, goal-shy charges.

Their away record is appalling, especially recently. They have lost all four of their previous league games on the road, conceding three goals on each of those occasions.

In front of goal it’s not been much better. They have scored just 8.9% of their attempts on goal – equating to just 25 goals from 281 shots – as well as carrying the lowest xG in the division per 90 minutes.

At least they are learning to have a pop though – in their last game against Bournemouth they managed 20 shots albeit without scoring any. The last time they managed that many attempts without scoring was back in 2017 in a 1-0 defeat to West Brom during a season in which they, against the odds, finished seventh and claimed a European berth.

This is not the Burnley of 2017 so we are going with the formbook on this one: a comfortable win for the Hammers.

Prediction: West Ham 2-0 Burnley

Brighton vs Nottingham Forest

Form (all competitions) Brighton: LLLDW Nottingham Forest: LWLLL

Whisper it quietly: are Brighton having another poor spell?

The Seagulls have lost three on the trot, failing to score in any of those defeats, while the heavy 4-0 loss to Roma on Thursday night was the sour cherry on what has been a crumbling cake in the previous couple of weeks. Mouthwatering to look at, perhaps, but they are not getting the results to Roberto De Zerbi’s taste.

A home tie against Nottingham Forest could represent the perfect opportunity to get things back on track. Despite recent results not being the most pleasing, Brighton can rely on their impressive home record – they are currently on their longest-ever top-flight run of 11 games without defeat at home.

Expect goals in this fixture. Brighton have kept just three clean sheets this season, which is no surprise when you consider this incredible De Zerbi stat: of the 123 managers with 50 or more games under their belt he averages the highest goals per game of all with 3.42. By way of contrast his opponent this weekend, Nuno Espírito Santo, ranks 99th on the list with 2.49 goals per game.

Nottingham Forest, meanwhile, have lost 11 of their last 16 games; only Brentford have succumbed to more defeats since that run began back in November.

A heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in the dying embers of the game on Matchday 27 denied Forest a much-needed point, with officiating taking centre stage in a controversial finale.

Can they use the indignant frustration to fuel a surprise away win here? We can’t see it.

Prediction: Brighton 4-1 Nottingham Forest

Liverpool vs Manchester City

Liverpool: WWWWW Manchester City: WWWWW

The title race continues to keep our eyes wide open and this Sunday’s clash between two of the best teams in Premier League history over the last few years should be unmissable.

Let’s start with a look at Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp’s men have an incredible recent record at home against the Citizens – they have lost just once at Anfield against them since the start of the 2003/04 season.

A somewhat fortunate late winner at the City Ground against Forest last weekend means the Reds continued their knack for scoring late goals. They have netted 10 Premier League goals in the 90th minute or later, the joint-most of any single season.

Darwin Nunez, the scorer of that goal, has been earning the praises of his manager of late. His goal in the 5-1 Thursday night demolition of Sparta Prague was the 1,000th across all competitions during Klopp’s reign at Liverpool. The Uruguayan, on 16, is now only three behind top scorer Mohamed Salah and could prove the chief threat to the City defence.

Manchester City, meanwhile, are like clockwork. They get to this stage of the season and just start winning. Again and again and again.

After a slow start to the campaign, and without the injured Kevin De Bruyne, some observers were wondering whether they still had it in them to mount yet another title challenge after last season’s all-conquering treble. Since a draw with Crystal Palace back in December, they have won 16 of 17 games in all competitions.

Despite a poor record at Anfield their recent away results are frighteningly consistent, with nine victories on the spin and 25 goals scored to boot.

Much of the uptick in form for Pep Guardiola’s charges has been down to the form of Phil Foden. The Stockport-born midfielder was exemplary against rivals Manchester United, scoring two goals, and has a personal-best 18 goal contributions already this campaign.

Can he continue his stellar level of performance? This one is far too tight to call – a high-scoring draw is the shout.

Prediction: Liverpool 2-2 Manchester City

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