I think the answer to these odds is in the public's mood. Even in the poll which in this thread shows that the majority thinks that City will become the champion this season, and much fewer people rely on Liverpool. I think the bets on these teams are distributed in approximately the same way, so the bookmakers insure themselves against a bad outcome and balance the accepted bets so as to guarantee themselves a profit in any outcome. Thus, in my opinion, this is a typical case of curved odds.
I would assume that it is based on what people wager on. I mean it is obvious that oddmakers care about what people wager on, sure it does a first off the batch odds at first but that changes overtime, because in the end if people are wagering on the underdog more than the favorites, you will question why that is and give odds better for the underdogs after a while thinking they are the favorites.Long story short the oddmakers take in what people may wager on as the most important thing when they are deciding on the teams. This is based on what people wagered on those teams beforehand as well, so if people wagered a ton of money on City to win all their games so far, and sure a lot for Liverpool too but if it is less than they would put City as the better team because of those previous bets. This is how they do it, that much I know, can't speak on this spesific game but that is what happens in the long run.
