1. Can Manchester City be stopped at home?

Yes, is the short answer to the above question.

Bayern Munich proved City are not infallible at the Etihad Stadium, beating them 3-1 in the Champions League back in October.

Yet no Premier League side possesses the same level of quality as Pep Guardiola’s men, and consequently, City have been rampant more often than not at home this campaign — scoring four against Man United, and six against Tottenham and Arsenal.

Liverpool have a decent defensive record, with only 19 goals conceded, yet Brendan Rodgers would surely take a draw given the way City have been playing of late.

2. Will people start taking Liverpool seriously as title contenders if they win today?

For much of the season, many people, including Brendan Rodgers and Luis Suarez, have insisted that the Anfield club are unlikely to win the league.

And recent history has shown that clubs who are top of the league or thereabouts around this time don’t necessarily go on to challenge.

Tottenham, for instance, are familiar with what it feels like to be the subject of title talk in December, yet their form has tended to drift off shortly thereafter.

With that in mind, today and the next two months in general will be the definitive measure in assessing whether or not the Anfield club’s Premier League bid should be taken seriously.

3. How big an impact will Manchester City’s injuries have on the side?

(Sergio Aguero will miss today’s game between Man City and Liverpool — Dave Thompson/PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Manchester City will this evening be without their top scorer Sergio Aguero, who is also arguably their best player.

In addition, Manuel Pellegrini’s team are without key figures at the back in the form of Matija Nastasic and Pablo Zabaleta.

In comparison to last year, City have looked less than defensively sound this season, and so will surely miss the influential, reassuring presence of the aforementioned names.

The impact of Aguero’s absence will be harder to measure. City certainly fared well without him in attack against Fulham, scoring four goals, yet against better defenders, they may star to miss their Argentinian talisman.

Meanwhile, the significance of Liverpool’s injuries should not be underestimated either — Steven Gerrard, Daniel Sturridge, Jose Enrique and Sebastian Coates are all still out for the Reds.

4. Are Manchester City capable of stopping Luis Suarez?

Earlier this season, Luis Suarez’s failure to score against Arsenal and Newcastle left him open to the accusation that he doesn’t perform against the bigger sides.

Yet he has since netted against both Everton and Tottenham, so even that tenuous criticism has now more or less been dispelled.

Consequently, Vincent Kompany and Martín Demichelis will have to be at their very best to stop the striker, who now has 36 goals in his last 34 games.

5. Can Philippe Coutinho stamp his influence on the game?

It’s no coincidence that Liverpool’s rare off days this season have coincided with Philippe Coutinho’s absence from the side.

The Brazilian has been a revelation since moving to the club from Inter just under a year ago for approximately £8.5million — a fee that looks a relative bargain by now.

Coutinho has the ability to pick out a pass and adds considerably creativity to Liverpool’s midfield — something they had arguably previously lacked ever since Xabi Alonso’s departure.

City often employ quite a gung-ho style, so Liverpool will be hoping for an on-form Coutinho to exploit the subsequent space left by the hosts on the counter attack. Fernandinho, therefore, will need to be at his best to alleviate the threat posed by the 21-year-old Brazilian midfielder.

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