Man City vs Liverpool: Key stats

For the first time in several seasons, Sunday's high-stakes showdown between Manchester City and Liverpool may not be the defining fixture in the Premier League title race. Arsenal currently sit comfortably at the top after 11 matches, leaving City and Liverpool trailing by seven and eight points respectively, and, unusually, both doing the chasing. 

*This will be the 199th meeting of the clubs in all competitions. Liverpool have won 95, while City have come away victorious on 52 occasions.

*In the Premier League, the Reds have won 23 of 56 meetings, with 21 draws and 12 defeats. Away from home they have won five, with 10 defeats and 13 draws.

*The match also marks a historic milestone for Pep Guardiola, who will take charge of the 1000th match of his managerial career. Guardiola's journey began with 42 games at Barcelona B, before taking charge of the Barcelona first team for 247 matches. He later oversaw 161 matches at Bayern Munich, and has so far managed 549 games for Manchester City.

*Across his 999 matches, Guardiola has earned 715 victories, collected 39 major trophies, and suffered just 128 defeats -- a remarkable 71.57% win rate. However, Liverpool have often proved one of his toughest opponents. Guardiola has been beaten 10 times by the Reds -- the joint-most he has suffered against any club -- and his teams have conceded 38 goals against Liverpool, second only to matches against Real Madrid (39).

*City, however, lost both league encounters to Liverpool last season, including a 2-0 defeat at home. Yet Guardiola's side have been the Premier League's most in-form team since April, collecting 42 points by winning 13 of 19 games. They have also won nine of their last 10 home league fixtures.

*Interestingly, City are yet to score from a set-piece this season -- all 20 league goals have come from open play, making them the first Premier League team to score 20 goals in their first 10 games without registering from a set-piece.

*At the other end, Liverpool arrive under pressure away from home, having lost their last three Premier League matches on the road -- they have not lost four straight away league games since April 2012.

*Erling Haaland has scored 98 goals in 107 Premier League appearances, and could become the fastest player to reach 100 goals, surpassing Alan Shearer's record of 100 in 124 games.

*Mohamed Salah's (188 goals, 88 assists) goal against Aston Villa saw him match Wayne Rooney (183 goals and 93 assists) for most goal contributions for a single club. Against City alone, Salah has been particularly lethal. He has nine goals and six assists against them in the league, contributing to 15 of Liverpool's last 20 Premier League goals in this fixture.