Pep Guardiola plays down Manchester City’s ‘14-point lead’ as ‘fake’ ahead of Liverpool clash

Premier League giants Manchester City and Liverpool will have a lot at stake when both the side lock horns at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Both have played 30 matches each and are separated by a point with Pep Guardiola’s City standing at front. The clash, which is being billed by many as a title decider, could well set the tone as we move forward from here.

However, this was not the case always as City at one point had secured a 14-point gap between them and Liverpool and were emerging as the frontrunner to run away with the title again. But with the defending champions dropping points against Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, and Crystal Palace and Jurgen Klopp’s side making the most out of their games in hand, Sunday’s clash could well determine the destiny of the title winners this season.

Reflecting on the turn of events, the City manager termed the 14-point lead as “fake” and expressed zero disappointment despite squandering the advantage.

“I’m going to tell you something, so 14 points it was fake. You were wrong because we played two more games so that is fake. I must analyse that in the games we drop points it was against Crystal Palace, especially at Southampton, and we were brilliant, I would say more than brilliant in these games but we dropped points,” said Guardiola in one of the videos posted by Manchester City on social media.

“When we were 14 points ahead of Liverpool I could not believe it because I know what kind of opponent we were going to face. Liverpool is maybe one of the best teams in decades in this country, in Europe. So, I know the reality is that it’s one point right now and this is the normal, reality. And again, it’s an honor to be there, to fight for, to beat them, and to win the Premier League,” he added. 

Guardiola, who has tasted immense success at Camp Nou and the Allianz Arena, also believes both Liverpool and Manchester City have raised the level of competition in the Premier League.  

“What is sure in Liverpool and Man City in the last years, we’ve raised the bar, raised the targets that the Premier League had before.”

“We pushed each other a lot, and I think the other teams have realised they have to push more to chase us, so that is the truth. So, in the last 5 years, one year we were a little bit down, the last season they had injuries and Man United was there, but both teams in the last 5-6 years, especially in the last 5 years we were fighting between each other,” he said.

Watch Manchester City vs Liverpool LIVE on Star Sports Select and Disney+ Hotstar on April 10th, 9.00 pm onwards