Two clubs in the top half of the Premier League table will do battle today in a league match between Manchester City and Liverpool. The first-division clash scheduled for 3 p.m. ET will be held at Etihad Stadium in Manchester and can be live streamed here free. Additional TV coverage can be found on NBC Sports.

Manchester City's Manuel Pellegrini had this to offer ahead of today's epic encounter (via the Guardian): "We have strengthened our squad a little over the summer and I am happy with it. I did not go looking for a striker because we already have four at the club. Other clubs have strengthened too. They want to improve, which is what you would expect, but we want to improve too. We believe we can still get better."

Manchester City can lend authenticity to those claims with a victory over Liverpool this afternoon.

Tactical Preview

Player to Watch: The meteoric rise of Raheem Sterling continues in 2014. The 19-year-old contributed one goal, one assist and five successful take-ons in Liverpool's 2-1 victory over Southampton in Week 1.

Manchester City's Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Hart; Clichy, Kompany, Demichelis, Zabaleta; Fernando, Fernandinho; Silva, Toure, Nasri; Aguero

Liverpool's Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Mignolet; Johnson, Lovren, Skrtel, Manquillo; Can, Gerrard; Sterling, Coutinho, Henderson; Sturridge

Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (statistics and lineups via WhoScored).

Standings

RnkTeamMPWDLGFGA+/-Pts
1Tottenham Hotspur22005056
2Chelsea22005146
3Swansea City22003126
4Arsenal21104314
5Hull City21102114
6Aston Villa21101014
7Manchester City11002023
8West Ham United21013213
9Liverpool11002113
10Everton20204402
11Sunderland20203302
12West Bromwich Albion20202202
13Manchester United201123-11
14Southampton201112-11
14Stoke City201112-11
16Leicester City201124-21
17Newcastle United201102-21
18Crystal Palace200225-30
19Burnley200214-30
20Queens Park Rangers200205-50