Man City 'cannot compete' with Liverpool, says Pep Guardiola

Aditya Devavrat 14:00 30/12/2018
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  • Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola fears his side “cannot compete” with Premier League leaders Liverpool, who opened up a nine-point gap on City after Saturday’s 5-1 win over Arsenal.

    City can cut the gap back down to six on Sunday, when they play Southampton, ahead of a crunch clash against the table-toppers on January 3.

    Guardiola, who led City to the league title last season in a campaign which saw the club become the first side to record 100 points in a Premier League season, believes his side have done well this season, despite losing their last two games to Crystal Palace and Leicester City.

    “We did well so far,” said the Spaniard, before Liverpool’s win took the gap to nine points. “We got 44 points in the first round.

    “If you get the same number of points in the second round, that’s 88 points. With 88 points, you are champions. You have the numbers to be champions.

    “Most of the Premier League champions in the past 20 years won it with less points. We did quite well. We did really well.

    “But of course you have the past two games, against Crystal Palace and Leicester, and you have that sense, because there are two teams there now who are better than us in the last month.

    “What can we say when Liverpool keep nine clean sheets and score a lot of goals? We cannot compete with that in terms of comparing with them.”

    It is a shocking admission from Guardiola, who has spent over £500million since taking over as City manager in 2016, only to see last season’s form disappear in a two-game stretch that has left the side in third, behind Tottenham as well.

    But the manager knows it will take just one win to get things back on track.

    “So we look at ourselves, and tomorrow against Southampton, we have to do what we do, and try to win, and when that happens, everything comes back to a normal position.”

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