Liverpool and Manchester City face European first

Liverpool FC and Manchester City FC are taking their Premier League rivalry onto the European stage as they meet for the first time in international competition in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

• While the home side have plenty of experience against fellow English clubs in Europe, this is their first European Cup quarter-final in nine years – and just City's second ever.

• This is the 17th time English clubs have been paired together in UEFA competition, and while City have been involved in just one of those previous ties, this is the tenth domestic affair for Liverpool in the European arena, including five of the nine UEFA Champions League knockout contests.

• No English club has won a home UEFA Champions League knockout phase game since Leicester City FC's 2-0 defeat of Sevilla FC in last season's round of 16 – a run of six matches including all five in this season's last 16 (D2 L3). There have only been three wins by Premier League clubs in the last 17 knockout phase home matches over the past four seasons (D6 L8).

Previous meetings
• While this is a first Liverpool-City game in Europe, the teams have met on 178 occasions in English football. Liverpool have won 87 of those contests to City's 45, with 46 draws.

• In this season's Premier League, City were 5-0 winners in Manchester on 9 September. Sergio Agüero gave the home side a 24th-minute lead and, after the visitors had lost Sadio Mané to a red card following a challenge on City goalkeeper Ederson, further strikes either side of half-time from Gabriel Jesus and a late Leroy Sané double completed an ultimately comfortable win.

• Liverpool turned the tables on City at Anfield on 14 January, inflicting a first – and so far only – defeat of the Premier League season on Josep Guardiola's side with a 4-3 victory in an epic encounter. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain gave the Reds an early lead and, though Sané levelled shortly before half-time, three goals in ten second-half minutes from Roberto Firmino, Mané and Mohamed Salah put Liverpool 4-1 up. They needed that cushion after Bernardo Silva and İlkay Gündoğan struck in the final six minutes, holding on for a memorable win.

• This is the sides' third two-legged knockout tie. Liverpool won both previous encounters, both in the English League Cup semi-finals: 2-1 on aggregate in 1980/81 and 3-2 in 2011/12. On both occasions, the Merseyside club went on to win the trophy.

Match background

Liverpool
• Liverpool have won nine of their previous 13 European Cup quarter-finals:
2008/09 Chelsea FC L 5-7 (1-3 h, 4-4 a)
2007/08 Arsenal FC W 5-3 (1-1 a, 4-2 h)
2006/07 PSV Eindhoven W 4-0 (3-0 a, 1-0 h)
2004/05 Juventus W 2-1 (2-1 h, 0-0 a)
2001/02 Bayer 04 Leverkusen L 3-4 (1-0 h, 2-4 a)
1984/85 FK Austria Wien W 5-2 (1-1 a, 4-1 h)
1983/84 SL Benfica W 5-1 (1-0 h, 4-1 a)
1982/83 Widzew Łódź L 3-4 (0-2 a, 3-2 h)
1981/82 PFC CSKA Sofia L 1-2 (1-0 h, 0-2 a)
1980/81 PFC CSKA Sofia W 6-1 (5-1 h, 1-0 a)
1977/78 SL Benfica W 6-2 (2-1 a, 4-1 h)
1976/77 AS Saint-Étienne W 3-2 (0-1 a, 3-1 h)
1964/65 1. FC Köln W 2-2, Liverpool won on coin toss (0-0 a, 0-0 h, 2-2 n)

• Liverpool have played eight previous two-legged knockout ties against fellow English sides, with the aggregate record W5 L3. Most recently they beat City's local rivals Manchester United FC in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League round of 16 (2-0 home, 1-1 away), Firmino scoring in the first game at Anfield.

• The Reds have played six European Cup ties against domestic rivals, beginning against Nottingham Forest FC in the 1978/79 first round (0-2 away, 0-0 home).

• Their remaining five all-English ties have all come in the UEFA Champions League era:
2004/05 semi-finals: Chelsea FC W 1-0 (0-0 a, 1-0 h)
2006/07 semi-finals: Chelsea FC W 4-1pens (0-1 a, 1-0 h aet)
2007/08 quarter-finals: Arsenal FC W 5-3 (1-1 a, 4-2 h)
2007/08 semi-finals: Chelsea FC L 3-4 (1-1 h, 2-3 a aet)
2008/09 quarter-finals: Chelsea FC L 5-7 (1-3 h, 4-4 a)

• Liverpool also played out two goalless draws against Chelsea in the 2005/06 group stage.

• Their record against fellow English clubs in Europe overall is therefore W5 D8 L5; at home it is W5 D3 L1, that 2009 Chelsea reverse the sole defeat.

• Jürgen Klopp's side are unbeaten at home in this season's UEFA Champions League, picking up seven points at Anfield in the group stage. They drew 2-2 with Sevilla FC before a 3-0 scalp of NK Maribor and wrapped up first place in Group E with a 7-0 dismantling of FC Spartak Moskva. In the round of 16, a 5-0 success at FC Porto preceded a goalless second leg on Merseyside.

• Before being held by Sevilla, Liverpool's previous six European games at Anfield had produced a home win. They are unbeaten in their last 14 European home matches (W9 D5), since a 3-0 loss to Real Madrid on 22 October 2014.

Manchester City
• This is only Manchester City's second European Cup quarter-final:
2015/16 Paris Saint-Germain W 3-2 (2-2 a, 1-0 h)

• They have played only one previous tie against a fellow English club. In the 1970/71 European Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals, holders City lost 1-0 both away and home to Chelsea.

• Having won their first five games in this season's competition, City lost 2-1 at FC Shakhtar Donetsk on matchday six. They had previously won 4-0 at Feyenoord and 4-2 at SSC Napoli.

• In the round of 16, City won 4-0 at FC Basel 1893 in the first leg, going through despite a 2-1 reverse in the home return.

• City have therefore recorded their two biggest away wins in the UEFA Champions League proper this season, at Feyenoord and Basel. In addition, their biggest home win is last season's 4-0 group defeat of VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, while they were 5-0 victors at Romania's Fotbal Club FCSB in last season's play-offs – meaning their four biggest wins in the competition, qualifying included, have all come under Guardiola.

• City, however, did not win away in last season's competition proper, losing at AS Monaco FC (1-3) and FC Barcelona (0-4) and drawing at Celtic FC (3-3) and Mönchengladbach (1-1). They have won just four of their last 11 European away fixtures (D3 L4).

• The Barcelona match was City's biggest European defeat, home or away.

Jürgen Klopp and İlkay Gündoğan during their time at Borussia Dortmund©AFP/Getty Images

Coach and player links
• Guardiola and Klopp crossed paths eight times between 2013 and 2015 as coaches of FC Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund respectively, Guardiola recording four wins to Klopp's three. That included a 2-0 triumph in the 2014 German Cup final, while Dortmund came out on top in the German Super Cup in both 2013 and 2014. The drawn fixture came in the 2015 German Cup semi-final; Dortmund went through 2-0 on penalties.

• Since Klopp and Guardiola found themselves in opposition in England, Liverpool have won both home games against City, with a draw and a home win in the clubs' Manchester fixtures.

• Klopp's Dortmund beat City 1-0 in Germany after a 1-1 away draw in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Gündoğan made 80 Bundesliga appearances under Klopp at Dortmund, scoring nine goals, between 2011 and the coach's 2015 departure. The midfielder was part of the squad that won a league and cup double in 2011/12, and scored a penalty in Dortmund's defeat by Bayern in the 2013 UEFA Champions League final.

• Raheem Sterling scored 18 goals in 95 Premier League games for Liverpool between 2012 and 2015, when he signed for City.

• James Milner spent five seasons at City between 2010 and joining Liverpool in 2015, making 147 league appearances and scoring 13 goals. He was part of the title-winning sides in 2012 and 2014, and also claimed winners' medals in the 2011 FA Cup and the English League Cup three years later.

• International team-mates:
Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Nathaniel Clyne, Dominic Solanke, Joe Gomez & Kyle Walker, John Stones, Fabian Delph, Raheem Sterling (England)
Simon Mignolet & Vincent Kompany, Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium)
Roberto Firmino & Ederson, Danilo, Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus (Brazil)
Emre Can & İlkay Gündoğan, Leroy Sané (Germany)
Alberto Moreno & David Silva (Spain)

• Have played together:
James Milner & Fabian Delph (Aston Villa FC, 2009–10)

Match facts

Liverpool
• Jordan Henderson and Alberto Moreno are a booking away from a ban.

• Liverpool have failed to score in only two of their last 19 matches in all competitions, winning 2-1 at Crystal Palace FC on Saturday.

• Liverpool have lost only one of their 23 games at Anfield in all competitions this season (W14 D8), although they have won only three of the last six (D2 L1). They have scored in all but three of those 23 fixtures.

• The Reds have won seven of their last 12 matches in all competitions, losing three.

• Liverpool's 2-0 win against Newcastle United FC on 3 March was their first clean sheet in their last seven home games; they subsequently kept clean sheets in the next two.

• Mohamed Salah has scored 16 goals in his last 14 appearances for Liverpool, including the late winner at Palace at the weekend. The Egyptian has 29 Premier League goals in 31 appearances this season.

• Nathaniel Clyne has not played for the first team this season due to a back injury – although he has been added to Liverpool's UEFA Champions League squad and was an unused substitute at Palace.

• Joe Gomez had to be replaced early in England's 1-0 victory away to the Netherlands on 23 March with an ankle problem. Emre Can has been sidelined since 17 March with a back injury.

• Salah was on target in Egypt's 2-1 defeat by Portugal on 23 March; new Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk scored in a 3-0 victory against the Portuguese three days later.

• Dominic Solanke recovered from a toe injury to score a late winner for England Under-21s against Ukraine on 27 March.

Manchester City
• Danilo, İlkay Gündoğan and Fernandinho will incur a suspension with their next yellow cards.

• City have won all but four of their 31 Premier League games this season. They have lost just one of their last 39 league fixtures, winning 33 and drawing five. They were 3-1 winners at Everton FC on Saturday and will be crowned champions if they beat Manchester United at home on 7 April.

• Josep Guardiola's side have won their last three away games in all competitions, and four of the last five – keeping clean sheets in but one of all those victories. Their overall record away from home this season is W19 D3 L3 with 12 clean sheets.

• City have scored 58 goals away from home, conceding 20. Only Crystal Palace FC, in the Premier League on 31 December (0-0), and third tier Wigan Athletic FC in the last 16 of the FA Cup on 19 February (0-1) have stopped them scoring.

• Sergio Agüero has 15 goals in 15 games in all competitions in 2018, and needs one more to become the first player to score 200 for City. His four-goal haul against Leicester City FC on 10 February was the third time he has managed four in a Premier League match; no other player can match that.

• Raheem Sterling has 16 Premier League goals this season – seven more than his previous best total of nine, with Liverpool in 2013/14.

• City claimed the first silverware of the English domestic season with a 3-0 victory against Arsenal in the League Cup final at Wembley on 25 February, thanks to goals from Agüero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva. It is the fifth time the Citizens have won the competition.

• Gabriel Jesus scored the only goal as Brazil beat Germany on 27 March. The same day, Kevin De Bruyne found the net as Belgium beat Saudi Arabia 4-0 – his first goal in 20 internationals, since May 2016 – and Nicolás Otamendi was on target for Argentina, although they lost 6-1 to Spain in Madrid.

• Kyle Walker, Sterling and John Stones were in the England team that beat a Netherlands side captained by Virgil van Dijk and also featuring Georginio Wijnaldum 1-0 in Amsterdam on 23 March. The same day, Bernardo Silva started for Portugal in a 2-1 win against Mohamed Salah's Egypt.

• Benjamin Mendy has not played since a cruciate knee injury on 23 September. Fabian Delph suffered a muscle injury on 5 March and has not featured since; Agüero has been out since 10 March with a knee problem picked up in training while Stones missed the Everton game with concussion.

• De Bruyne was included in the UEFA.com Fans' Team of the Year 2017. The Belgian handed over a cheque from for €100,000 to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) before the second leg against Basel.