Pep Guardiola knows Liverpool are breathing down Man City‘s neck with the expectation that Jurgen Klopp‘s side, “one of the best teams ever,” fail to drop any more points this season.
After the Reds put four beyond Man United on Tuesday, it was over to City to respond against Brighton – which they duly did with a 3-0 win of their own.
It leaves the margin at just one point at the top of the table with six games remaining, with the battle for perfection still very much ongoing.
The maths is simple for any Liverpool or City fan and each will be scouring the fixture list to look for a hurdle that may prove tough to clear.
For Guardiola, he sees none for Klopp’s men and acknowledged his players “feel it” and the need to win each and every game or lose their title.
“There are six games left and if we win all the games, we are champions. If we don’t win all the games, Liverpool will be champions,” Guardiola said on Wednesday.
“It happened three years ago when we won 14 in a row to be champions. Liverpool are going to win all their games but it’s not necessary to tell that to the players, they feel it.
“We’re competing with one of the best teams ever.
“We have just one month, maybe five weeks. After 11 months it comes down to one month. We will do everything we can to be the best in those games.”
But while three points were added to City’s tally on Wednesday evening, both John Stones and Nathan Ake are now under an injury cloud with respective hamstring and ankle concerns.
With Ruben Dias only just returning from injury and Kyle Walker sidelined, it leaves a question mark over their defensive ranks.
“Nathan Ake has a twisted ankle. It is not perfect but it was good to give minutes to Ruben [Dias],” Guardiola said.
“[Stones] was a little bit tight. I didn’t speak to the doctor, I will speak to him in the morning. Even for the doctors he needs to rest a little bit to know exactly the feeling. John went out running and playing. That is a good sign.
“He did not make an action and fall down to the grass. He was playing but felt tight. We did not want to take a risk. We will see in the next days.”
While Liverpool host Everton on Sunday, City will welcome relegation-threatened Watford to the Etihad on Saturday before the pair partake in respective Champions League semi-finals against Villarreal and Real Madrid.
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