Can Liverpool regain some momentum in the Premier League? Today they host Mark Hughes and his squad cobbled together with just a few tens of millions, who visit Anfield with the intention of further upsetting the league's established order.
Tom will be here from around 12.30pm with team news and more, before kick-off at 12.45pm.
In the meantime, find out why Rafa Benítez believes David Ngog is even more of an honest player than Thierry Henry.
Or you can read Paul Wilson's take on Manchester City's peculiar ability to draw so many games.
12.04pm: Your midday team news, from no lesser a source than the Liverpool website. Glen Johnson is out but Steven Gerrard is in:
Reina, Skrtel, Carragher, Agger, Insua, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Babel, The Cheatingest Cheat In All Of Christendom (Until Wednesday night). Subs: Cavalieri, Aquilani, El Zhar, Aurelio, Riera, Benayoun, Kyrgiakos
12.08pm: And your Man City team is:
Victim Of Grave Injustice, Zabaleta, Toure, Lescott, Bridge, De Jong,
Barry, Wright-Phillips, Potential Victim Of Grave Injustice If He Could Still Be Bothered To Play International Football, Bellamy, Adebayor. Subs:
Taylor, Onuoha, Johnson, Santa Cruz, Tevez, Kompany, Weiss.
12.18pm: So Man City have a striker who hasn't scored since September, a centre-back pairing who stare at each other with the mute incomprehension of Cro-Magnon man perusing the latest issue of Wallpaper* magazine and a left-back in such splendidly bad form that even the Match of the Day panel had something amusing to say about him. And yet, if they win today they'll be back into the top four. All of which is a testament to the struggles of Liverpool who have quite generously vacated their residence at the upper reaches of the table so everyone else can have a go.
12.36pm: By the way, Glen Johnson, Yossi Benayoun, Albert Riera and Fabio Aurelio all went to Belgrade this weekend to have horse afterbirth rubbed into their legs and not one of them is starting. Or, if you're a fan of afterbirth, Glen Johnson, Yossi Benayoun, Albert Riera and Fabio Aurelio all went to Belgrade this weekend to have placenta rubbed into them and three of them have recovered sufficiently to make the bench.
1 min: And we're off. Gerrard kicks off to Ngog who to the disappointment of everyone doesn't dive over the ball but taps it back again. Gerrard nearly plays Babel in.
2 min: Liverpool look like they're willing to attack – although they started very well against Birmingham too – and Babel and Gerrard link up again on the left but City get it clear.
5 min: "FREE Home Trials - everyone's trying them!," cries Glasses Direct, which is the most perceptive analysis you will be getting all day. Barry pulls Kuyt down and Gerrard's free kick is swept into the box, Skrtel thumps a header in, Given saves superbly and the ball bobbles across the face of the goal to safety.
6 min: Agger is bleeding from a head wound – a clash of heads with Toure – so there'll be a break in play.
8 min: Yep, Agger has gone a nasty Nick Griffin shade of white and that's the end of his day. Kyrgiakos is warming up.
10 min: It was a terrifying atmosphere at the start of the game but Agger's injury has quietened the ground somewhat. Liverpool are playing with 10 men as we await Kyrgiakos's entrance.
12 min: City's first chance. Barry is unmarked around 10 yards out and directs a weak header across Reina who palms it away. He probably had time to bring that down and have a more measured shot on goal. Kyrgiakos is on.
14 min: More injuries! Gerrard and Babel smash into each other. Gerrard is OK to continue but Babel is holding his ankle... "Do you think when Robin Van Persie returns from his treatment he'll play as an old fashioned placenta forward," chuckles Ben Bamford to himself and only himself.
16 min: Andy Gray, sitting 50 yards away in his commentary box, manages to diagnose Babel's injury and reckons he should just shake it off. Amazingly, Babel listens to him and hobbles back on.
19 min: Andy Gray diagnoses the black hole in my stomach as a combination of Guinness, Wham Bars and enchiladas and advises 70 minutes of minute-by-minute typing. Babel is soft and goes off. I apologise for the lack of football but it's just Liverpool players getting injured at the moment. Benayoun is on.
21 min: Some football! Go football! Ireland is tackled by Mascherano, who doesn't injure himself. "Maybe, Ben Bamford, but Van Persie success will depend on whether the midfield can provide enough cervix," chuckles Mac Millings to himself and Ben Bamford.
23 min: Rafa is scribbling something on his pad, probably "GAH!". Bable and Gerrard were linking up well on the left. Mascherano plays a long pass to Kuyt who almost flicks Ngog in.
25 min: This is pathetic. Now Toure is injured. I blame Thierry Henry. "Is Stephen Ireland the living spit of Moby or do I need to get out more?" wonders Chris Myers, who needs to get out more.
26 min: Toure is back on. I blame Thierry Henry. Benayoun plays a slide rule pass down the right flank. An absolute peach until it transpires no one's gone after it.
28 min: Ireland plays Adebayor in, who is ruled offside. He wasn't but Reina smothers his shot anyway. At the other end Gerrard's shot is blocked brilliantly by the flying Toure. "I think the real qustion regarding Van Persie is whether or not he has the guts," cackles David Wrigley, who has the good grace to apologise.
30 min: Lucas misplaces his pass, as he will. "As a matter of courtesy to the Oppressed Irish® could you please refer to our son Stephen Manchester by his correct name," says Declan Johnson.
32 min: Nice movement in the box from Liverpool as a free-kick comes in, it slides off Skrtel's head to safety.
34 min: De Jong has been terrifying so far, crunching Liverpool with huge (but legitimate) tackles. "I suggest we call it quits and start from scratch again in 15 minutes," says Vijay Raghvani. "Otherwise the injury time will be longer than the actual game. What odds we get two minutes extra time at the end of the first half?"
36 min: "Are both teams giving 100 placenta?" asks Steven Whitehead. The best pun today gets a free sheep womb massage from Richard Keys, by the way. SWP has a wee bit of room on the edge of the area but blazes over.
38 min: Mascherano reckons the best way to beat one of the best keepers in the world is to shoot straight at him from 35-yards. It doesn't work.
40 min: Lovely flowing football from Liverpool, as they sweep the ball from left to right. It ends with Kuyt's shot being blocked. Or maybe it was a pass, I was just lost in the majesty of sweep.
43 min: Liverpool exchange around 1,000 passes and move forward 10 yards. "If Skertl attacked the ball when defending corners as aggressively as he does at attacking corners, Liverpool wouldn't be in half the mess they're in this season," chirrups Simon Hoyle all the way from Sydney.
45 min: There will be four years six minutes of added time.
45 min + 2: Lucas's shot takes a couple of deflection and Ngog almost latches onto it. "It's all very well the midfield providing cervix, but you need the forwards to find some womb or it will be pointless," says Luke Remsbery, who wants to point our he hates himself for bothering to type that.
45 min + 4 Liverpool continue to press with no real penetration, as they have all game (and did for most of the game against Birmingham). It's almost like they're missing a world class striker.
45 min + 6: Peep! Liverpool have done very little, City even less. The injuries disrupted what began as an up-tempo performance. Adebayor has done almost nothing. "Maybe it's just the fact that this match started at 6:45 am in the central United States, so my mind is foggy, but does Mascherano only shoot from 20-40 yards away?" asks John Palombi.
1.42pm: Incredibly, the offer of a rubdown from Richard Keys has prompted a (very small) avalanche of puns, so we present:
Half-time puns, sponsored by the Serbian Health Service (for all your Balkan health gimmickery needs).
"I hope neither team gets complacenta" - Simon McGrother
"When my kids were young and apt to misspell, the placenta was where they went after school every day" - Clive Graham
"Will Liverpool's placenta boys keep on diving, or will they stay on their fetus?" - Fred Lane.
"These Van Persie jokes started off well, but now they're just diumbilical" - Andrew Grant
45 min: We're back again. "I don't know why everyone's suddenly making such a fuss about this Serbian therapist's alternative treatment," says Piers Gee. "Van Nistelrooy used it for years with no side effects whatsoever." I like it because it's subtle. A slow burner.
48 min: Stephen Manchester is straight into the action. He receives the ball at the edge of the area but his pass to Bellamy is the Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen side of overelaborate and Liverpool clear. "I think it best you stop the puns competition before things start getting vulva," says Daniel Sharpe, getting the first use of the word vulva into a football report.
GOAL!!!! Liverpool 1-0 Man City (Skrtel 49) The free-kick's whipped in and Skrtel shrugs off Adebayor to shin home. Ugly but very welcome for Liverpool.
51 min: Liverpool didn't really deserve that but then again City have done so little, they can't really complain. Hopefully this should pep things up.
53 min: SWP scampers down the flank but can't control the ball and it's out of play. "Have Sarah Jessica Parker and Celine Dion used it too been on the placenta too?" wonders Simon Hoyle. To be fair, Sea the Stars was smothered in the stuff from a very early age and he's fairly pacy.
56 min: "I presume Aquilani is fit now, but he is still not starting," says Stephen Bell. "Does this mean him and Gerrard can't play together? If so... oh Rafa..." I suspect he's still not 100% fit. But I wonder whether he'll ever be 100% fit. He's one of the frailest looking footballers I've ever seen.
58 min: Bridge actually delivers a cross, straight into Kuyt's face. "This sort of treatment might give new meaning to players who fancy a bit of afters," giggles Ian Copestake.
61 min: Tevez is on for Barry to add a spot of attackiong oomph (or lack thereof). "Anyone else who writes in with afterbirth/placenta/vulva puns should be penisalised," says Andrew Robinson, rebalancing the genders.
63 min: Liverpool win a corner and Gerrard takes. It finds Kuyt's head and comes out to Gerrard, who amazingle doesn't thrash it into Row Z. He might as well have though because the move breaks down.
66 min: SWP surges forward again impressively. With no real effect. Again. Anyone want to read Rob Shaw's placenta-based footballers? Really? OK then: Follopian Rush, Pre-Natal Ben Haim, Lionel Third Tri-Messi, Uterussell Beardsmore and, of course, David Semen
67 min: Ireland again pulls the strings at the edge of the box and Bellamy is in before Benayoun tackles him by accident and wins a corner. The corner is brilliantly bad, so bad Liverpool don't really have to clear.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Man City (Adebayor 69)City continue to press and a whirlwind of passes leads to a corner that Adebayor heads home. Completely unmarked. I mean COMPLETELY unmarked. Here's Ben Bellamy: "Surely your description of the first goal should have been: 'Gerrard placentas it for Skrtel, and as City fallopian at the back, he avoids blazing it ovary the bar and scores a simple goal.'
71 min: Liverpool had done nothing since going 1-0 up and City exploited it. Adebayor outfoxed the Liverpool defence for the goal by the cunning tactic of staying completely still, jumping a bit and waiting for the ball to drop onto his head.
74 min: Liverpool raise themselves from slumber to mount an attack. It ends with Ngog jigging about before smacking it over the bar.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-2 Man City (Ireland 75) Great goal. Tevez plays a ball so subtle that it's barely there. SWP dances onto it, crosses to Ireland who finishes.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-2 Man City (Benayoun 77) How often does Yossi Benayoun save Liverpool? City's defence once again lose concentration and can't clear a cross that wanders across goal and Benayoun slides in to finish. Wow.
80 min: Do Liverpool deserve credit for clawing their way back from 2-1 down for the second game in a row? Maybe, but why do they keep putting themselves in a position where they have to?
82 min: City mount a few counter attacks, one of which draws a good save from Reina. "Very sporting of Skertel to reciprocate Adebayor leaving him a free shot for the Liverpool goal. He could teach Thierry Henry a thing or two," chuckles Alastair Lees.
84 min: No sign of Aquilani, who some scientists suggest might not actually exist. Bellamy smashes the ball high and wide.
85 min: Benayoun is off for Aurelio, who hoofs a free-kick over. "It seems clear to me that Mascherano's strategy is to earn a blastocyst: hoping that his long-range shots ping of some hapless defender for an easy score, but so far this season Liverpool have chorionically failed to maintain any sustained pressure against domestic oponents; their poor use of any intervillious space, the lack of any syncytium in their penetration into the final third, and their inability to make up for the absence of Torres has failed to curretage Rafa's problem- their system is badly abrupted." I hoipe those big words in David Hilmy's email aren't dirty.
87 min: Tevez and SWP are linking up well. This time SWP is dispossesses by Aurelio.
88 min: Bridge concedes a completely unnecessary corner. SWP heroically beat Kyrygiakjos in the air to clear. "The day Rafa acknowledges there is a fundamental problem in defence, and not just an accidental one, is the day progress will come," says Øivind Idso. "That day is obviously not here."
90 min +1 min: A fantastic piece of swearing from the crows is picked up before Sky muffles it. Kuyt appeals for a penalty, it isn't. "If someone mistimes a tackle on Van Persie, is it a foal," asks Mark Elliott.
90 min +3: One last corner for Liverpool after Kuyt's shot is blocked. Lucas - oh Lucas! - has a free header six yards out and fluufs it side. He covers his eyes. Oh Lucas!
PEEEP! PEEP! (PEEP!) City and Liverpool are sixth and seventh respectively. Liverpool at least have the comfort that City's second was a lovely piece of play, the other one though was incompetent defending. City, meanwhile, were let down by lapses again. Neither side look like bothering the title, or even the top four.
Oh, and the winner of the Richard Keys competition is ... Rafael Benítez of Liverpool. Enjoy it, Rafa.
