Will heavyweight clash be decided by STRIKING stats?

SALAH RESURGENCE ENSURES THE BIG HITTERS ARE READY TO DECIDE THE BATTLE

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Mohamed Salah gets ready for the clash with Manchester City and Erling Haaland (below) at the Etihad tomorrow

(ANDREW POWELL/LFC/GETTY)

AST season's top three Premier League goalscorers descend upon the Etihad on Sunday afternoon. And Liverpool will hope the outcome does not reflect the respective fortunes of the trio this season.

Goals are normally guaranteed when the Reds take on Manchester City, with only one scoreless stalemate between the teams in their last 39 games - and even then it required a missed penalty late on at Anfield from visiting midfielder Riyad Mahrez.

There's little to suggest anything different this weekend, not least given only Manchester United have seen more goals in their opening 10 games than the 32 that have been scored when Liverpool have played. Indeed, only City have plundered more - 20 - than the 18 the Reds have managed.

Injury problems last season limited City striker Erling Haaland to just the 22 league goals, behind both Alexander Isak on 23 and runaway leading scorer Mohamed Salah with 29.

This season, though, has seen Haaland revert to the norm with 18 goals in all competitions already and 13 in the topflight alone - more than the entire squad of fourth-placed Sunderland combined.