Pep Guardiola has warned that Manchester City could be effectively out of the Premier League title race if they lose to Liverpool at Anfield next weekend.
City suffered their fifth consecutive defeat across all competitions and their third straight league loss with a heavy 4-0 drubbing at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
Guardiola’s side will face Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday before traveling to Anfield five days later.
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If Liverpool defeat Southampton on Sunday, they could move eight points clear of City. After the loss to Spurs, Guardiola was asked whether an 11-point gap would be too much to overcome, even this early in the season.
“Yeah, it’s true,” he replied. “We’re not thinking about winning or losing [the title], we’re not in a position to talk about what will happen at the end of the season. If we don’t win, it’s because we didn’t deserve it. We won it in the past because we deserved it. Right now, our focus is on Feyenoord, which is the most important match for our Champions League qualification. Step by step, the players will improve.”
City’s current struggles extend beyond the result, as they have lost five consecutive games for the first time in 18 years and conceded 14 goals during that stretch. Defensive injuries have contributed to the difficulties, and things worsened against Spurs when John Stones was forced off at halftime.
“We are a bit fragile right now, that’s obvious,” Guardiola acknowledged. “We need to break this run because victories will help us regain positivity and confidence. But after eight years here, I knew that sooner or later, we would have a drop. I never expected to lose three Premier League games in a row, but we’ve been incredibly consistent, and now we have to accept that sometimes this happens in football and life.”
Meanwhile, Tottenham rose to sixth place after a masterclass in counter-attacking football, with James Maddison scoring twice on his 28th birthday, followed by second-half goals from Pedro Porro and substitute Brennan Johnson.
“You don’t come to a place like this expecting it to be as convincing as it was for us,” said Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou. “City test you in every way possible. After a disappointing result last time [against Ipswich], we returned to our core beliefs. Credit to the lads, they were outstanding. We had to weather a storm, but then we grew into the game. I’m so pleased for the players; it’s a great step in our progression.”