Pep Guardiola relishing ‘marvelous’ title challenge from Liverpool
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said Liverpool are presenting a ‘marvelous’ challenge in the race for the Premier League title.
Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola fist bump after the most recent match between the side'sThe Reds have enjoyed an uptick in form and have won their last nine Premier League games.
This has coincided with a more inconsistent spell for City, typified by their goalless draw at Crystal Palace on Monday.
In combination with Liverpool’s 2-0 victories at both Brighton and Arsenal in the last week, City’s lead at the top of the Premier League table has been cut to just one point, with the two sides set to face each other at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, April 10.
Speaking about the title race, the Manchester Evening News reports Guardiola as saying, "It is what it is. In 14, 15 days, we will come back after the international break, then nine games.
"Everyone knows what we do. It is a marvellous challenge. We try to do it."
He also believes that City and Liverpool could win the treble this season, with both sides still in the FA Cup and the Champions League.
He continued, "If [Manchester] United did it, another team can do it. To break a record is because someone has done it.
"When it happens, I think it will. It’s not easy, but you can do it. In September, October it’s more difficult. Two months left, yeah it can be done. But it happened once in a lifetime."
Liverpool could actually win the quadruple, having secured the Carabao Cup last month. They take on Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday while they have been drawn against Benfica in the Champions League last-eight.
City, meanwhile, will face Atletico Madrid in Europe’s premier club competition, while they could meet Chelsea in the semi-finals.
They face Southampton in the FA Cup this Sunday and Guardiola is fully focused on getting a result.
He said, "How do you ask me when these six years we play every game like it’s the last game of our lives.
"I know how difficult it will be away at Southampton. I’m sorry, I trust a lot my team, my players. I know it looks like everything is gone but I trust a lot my players to arrive in every competition who we are.
"Like at Southampton, Crystal Palace. I want to do it with these players, I wouldn’t change one single player for the next two months."