City enter the game on top of the table, five points clear of second placed neighbors Manchester United, leading the league in goals scored and goal difference. Liverpool are currently sixth, with recent results suggested the players are increasing the level of synergy between them, although results at Anfield have been more or less, frustrating.

Liverpool have drawn their last three games (against Manchester United, Norwich and Swansea) with fans believing they could have achieved nine points out of those games. Away form has been very different with Liverpool recording impressive results at Everton, WBA and most recently Chelsea.

Liverpool will still be without talismanic captain Steven Gerrard, as the club have said that he won’t be available and no date has been set for his return from an ankle infection.

Manchester City will hope to erase the memories from Tuesday’s Champions League defeat at Napoli, a result that puts all the pressure on City to progress to the knock out stage of the competition. But the action in midweek had quite a few implications:

Bayern Munich assured themselves of first place with the impressive 3-1 win over Villareal thanks to a Frank Ribery brace. As it stands, even a City win over Bayern won’t guarantee promotion, unless Villareal can get at least a point off Napoli. The group was expected to be the group of death when the initial draw was made, and it has lived to expectations. Villareal have been disappointing and have yet to earn a point, but the struggle for second spot has been a very interesting aspect to watch.

Inter Milan qualify and book first place with a 1-1 draw in Turkey. All three remaining clubs can qualify based on results on the last game day.

One of the more interesting groups as clubs enter match day six with no one booking a ticket to the next round and Manchester United, Benfica and FC Basel with chances to make it through. United dropped points again at home with a 2-2 draw with Benfica, and have to travel to Switzerland and get a result of the impressive Swiss champions to make it through. Benfica are more than expected to beat Otelul Galati who are pointless at this stage.

Real Madrid are the most prolific team in the Champions League. Five wins out of five, 16 goals scored and only two conceded (both in the latest 6-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb). Lyon and Ajax shared a goalless draw, meaning Ajax have the upper hand with a three- point lead over the French side but entertain Real Madrid in the last game. Lyon needs Real Madrid to win while they need to thrash Dinamo Zagreb to over come a seven-goal difference between them and Ajax.

Bayer Leverkusen’s last minute goal completed the comeback to record a 2-1 win over Chelsea in Germany. Drogba had given Chelsea the lead after excellent persistence following a Sturridge lob. Derdiyok equalised and Friedrich’s header sealed the win. It puts Leverkusen on top of the group with nine points, with Chelsea and Valencia right behind them on 8 points. Valencia’s 7-0 thrashing of Genk fixed their goal difference, yet they would need to get a positive draw or win against Chelsea in London to qualify.

Robin Van Persie scored a brace to ensure Arsenal bagged the three points off the home game with Dortmund. The 2-1 win seals promotion for the Gunners, with second place a juggle between all three clubs, as mathematically they can all qualify. Dortmund are bottom of the table, and need a huge result to qualify. They also need Olympiakos to fail to win against Arsenal. But realistically, Marseille should be in pole position to snatch 2 spot.

FC Porto revived their qualification hopes with a 2-0 away win over Shakhtar Dontsek. It puts them two points behind surprise group leaders, Cypriot champions APOEL Nicosia. Porto, Zenith and APOEL all have chances to qualify and gain top spot depending on results of the last match day.

Barcelona won the thriller against Milan in Italy 3-2 to seal the fate of this group. Xavi was center of attention in the game as he scored the winner and was the cause of the penalty, which resulted in Barcelona’s second. Milan twice came from behind through Ibrahimovic and an excellent Prince Boateng goal. But, an own goal by Van Bommel and Messi’s penalty in addition to Xavi’s winner were enough to guarantee first spot for the Catalans. Milan will feel hard done by as replays show very minimal contact between Aquilani and Xavi that resulted in the Barcelona captain stumbling down. Not something that I’m shocked about, as Barcelona players seem to have found it a habit to fall at the right moment.