It could be the last chance for Manchester City to save their Premier League season as their clash against league leaders Liverpool headlines another weekend of football action.

Pep Guardiola’s side are staring down the barrel of a seventh successive game without a win after squandering a 3-0 lead midweek against Feyenoord in the Champions League – eventually drawing 3-3.

Ahead of the game week, Warren Ashurst was joined by Racing Post tipsters Mark Langdon and Dan Childs who offered up all their best bets on the latest episode of The Assist.

Man City lack leadership

Sunday’s game will mark the first time in six years that Manchester City (23/10) will head into a Premier League game as the underdogs, and Childs explained that they are a team “suffering a crisis in confidence”.

He said: “At the start of the game against Spurs they started the game really well, conceded and then fell apart after that. And then the Feyenoord game, you’re 3-0 up and cruising and again as soon as there’s a setback and they concede a goal everything seems to collapse. 

“Everyone talks about the playing side but I think there might be a lack of leadership out on the pitch, Rodri is not the club’s official captain but I think in terms of being a leader when things go wrong I feel they’re really missing him in that sense out on the pitch.”

Langdon added that he believes it was “negligence in the transfer market” that the club failed to bring in a backup for Rodri given how much they have struggled in his absence, giving up the most big chances in the Premier League since he sustained his injury.

Additionally, City have also not replaced Julián Alvarez – now at Atlético Madrid – who was able to share the workload with the misfiring Erling Haaland last season.

Looking at the betting markets for the match, both tipsters are backing Liverpool to win the match at Anfield, currently at 11/10, given their strong form and home record. 

“People tend to forget how strong they are at home,” explained Childs. “You got another reminder there against Real Madrid where they turned up fantastically and deserved to win.

“The way [City] are playing at the moment, you’d have to say it’s not as difficult a test for [Liverpool] which sounds a crazy thing to say.”

If Liverpool do prevail, they will extend their lead over the reigning champions to ten points which could end City’s title hopes as the duo agreed that City “won’t claw back a double-digit deficit”.

Around the grounds

Elsewhere in the Premier League, the fixtures get underway tonight (29 November) when Brighton & Hove Albion take on bottom-of-the-table Southampton.

Brighton picked up a win on the road last time out against Bournemouth and both tipsters believe that they will win again in a high-scoring game.

Langdon’s best bet is Brighton to win and over 2.5 goals, currently at evens, whereas Childs believes both teams will get on the team sheet, picking out Brighton to win and both teams to score at 13/8.

On Saturday, title-chasing Arsenal travel across London to play a West Ham side buoyed by an upset win away at Newcastle United.

Despite the result, West Ham have struggled against teams in the top six and both Childs and Langdon can’t look past an Arsenal win.

Langdon said: “Arsenal are coming off the back of a fantastic win in Portugal against Sporting [Lisbon], Ødegaard is back and Saka looks fit and firing. 

“They’ll be buoyed by what’s happened to Manchester City as well. It’s easier to chase Liverpool down than it is Man City.”

Langdon’s pick for this game is Arsenal -1 Asian Handicap at 4/5, meaning that if Arsenal win by two or more goals the bet comes in but if it is by only one goal you get your money back.

Childs’ pick is Arsenal to win and under 3.5 goals at 13/10.

Finally, ahead of the Liverpool vs Manchester City game, Chelsea welcome an Aston Villa side that have failed to win a game in November, most recently playing out a goalless draw in midweek against Juventus in the Champions League.

Chelsea, on the other hand, are on a two-match winning streak, beating Leicester in the Premier League last weekend before sweeping aside Heidenheim in the UEFA Conference League midweek.

Both tipsters are backing Chelsea to win at 8/11 given that Aston Villa have “tended to struggle” following their Champions League games.

Meanwhile, according to Childs, Chelsea have a “real opportunity to kick on” and potentially mount a title challenge given their favourable run of fixtures in the coming weeks.