I think we edge the the back 5 and front 3 whilst they edge the midfield. It really is a close call and it all depends on the day and the manager on the day in changing / adapting things during the game.
Would Gundogan / Silva and KDB with Fabinho at 6 make us stronger in our style of play. Silva on present form no doubt given his work rate and ability on the ball.
It's all matter of opinion but I think GK strength is similar.
In defence we have a gap at full back (RB cover) that is replicated a bit by City. I think our CB options are better than City's. Our 4th choice CB is better than Ake for start.
Up front I'd rather have our 1st 4 choices over any 1st 4 City can put forward. The debate comes on whether having their 5th choice player is better than having Minamino and Origi. If we had Jota, Salah, Firmino and Mane would you rather than supplemented with Torres or Minamino and Origi?
GK, defence and forwards are pretty similar though it's arguable we have a very slight edge in some areas.
I think midfield is the debate.
As a starting 3 would you rather have Fabinho-Henderson-Thiago or Rodri-De Bruyne-Gundogan (for example).
As back-ups is a pool of Keita-Milner-Jones-AOC-Elliott better or worse than Fernandinho-B.Silva-Foden-Palmer?
I think City have the edge in midfield. I think that's mainly because 3 of our transfers in that area haven't worked out as of yet. We've spent about 100M on transfers fees on Thiago, Keita and AOC and probably sink about 20-25M a year in wages on those 3 players. Is that the gap in squad quality between us and City? Is it not necessarily lack of investment but a few (current) misses in the transfer market in 1 area that is causing this perception of lack of squad depth?
I'm not saying that the above is true but it's something worth thinking about. We've invested a lot of funds (fees and wages) in midfield but it's probably the area with the most Q marks about overall quality. We've got the numbers in midfield (8 for 3 positions is well enough despite some being injury prone). But are some of the players showing enough quality on a regular basis?