Pep Guardiola makes Liverpool’s ‘lucky’ admission after Man City beat Arsenal

Pep Guardiola spoke after Manchester City’s 4-1 Premier League win over Arsenal

Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola has claimed his Manchester City side should be grateful for the way they have been pushed by Liverpool in recent years.

Guardiola’s men are used to protracted title fights, with Liverpool City edging this one until the last day of the season in two of the last four campaigns. During this period, the Reds also beat the Etihad club in the FA Cup semi-finals.

City moved closer to a third consecutive Premier League title by beating Arsenal 4-1 on Wednesday night. Guardiola’s side, now two points behind the Gunners with two games left, have been inspired by the devastating partnership of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne. And speaking after the Etihad clash, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager has given credence to teams looking to challenge City’s dominance of English football.

He said: “Why should I stop [trying to win]? If we’re here, we have to. We’re lucky as a team, I have to be honest, the way Liverpool pushed us last season after winning 100 games.” points.

“Liverpool pushed us and Arsenal have scored 50 points in the first leg this season; I didn’t expect to be in position. “Once we’re there, we try to win; every time we play, why should we stop? It’s not necessary.

CONTINUE READING

Jurgen Klopp quizzes Liverpool after West Ham win and offers Champions League verdict’s

Jurgen Klopp spoke after his Liverpool side went down 2-1 at West Ham United

Jurgen Klopp has urged Liverpool to show their “true colours” in the final six games of the season – but are refusing to make a late push for the front four.

The Reds moved within six points of the Champions League qualifying places by claiming a 2-1 Premier League win at West Ham United on Wednesday night.

A third win in a row means Klopp’s side are now sixth, just one point behind Aston Villa in fifth and on goal difference ahead of Tottenham Hotspur, who they oversee on Sunday.

And while he believes Liverpool can still get something out of a difficult season, the Reds boss just wants consistency from his players. “I want us to show our true colors at least for a few weeks and not the nice, ugly, nice, ugly,” Klopp said. “We did that for three and a half games – the second half against Arsenal was brilliant – all in a different way. Tonight I preferred the first half for a long time.

“The way we controlled the game, we’ve played here many times and it’s always difficult. From time to time the results looked better, but the goals we scored were counter-attacks and such. Tonight we controlled the game in a way we never did against West Ham before and I really enjoyed that.”

Asked about the top 4, Klopp said: “I can’t watch the race yet, I can’t because we can’t race yet. The only thing we can do is win football matches. If that puts pressure on the other teams, it’s not in our hands because we don’t play against them. We play against Tottenham (and Villa) and that’s all in that area I think. If they (the teams here) above) win all their matches, that’s all, but I don’t really think about it. “I want us to finish the season as well as possible. I want to take something from the season for next season. If it’s European competition, great. If not, we have to accept that too and move on.

And while he believes Liverpool can still get something out of a difficult season, the Reds boss just continues to want consistency from his players.

“I want us to show our true colors at least for a few weeks and not the nice, ugly, nice, ugly,” Klopp said. “We did it for three and a half games – the second half against Arsenal was brilliant – all in a different way. I liked the first half tonight the most for a long, long time.

The way we controlled the game, we’ve played here many times and it’s always difficult. The result looked better at times, but the goals we scored were counter-attacks and stuff like that. We controlled the game tonight like we have never done before against West Ham and I loved it.

When asked about the top four, Klopp said: “I still can’t see the race, I can’t, because we are not in position for a race yet. All we can do is win football matches. If this puts pressure on other teams, it’s not in our hands because we don’t play against them. We’re playing Tottenham (and Villa) and I think it’s all from that area. If they (the teams above) win all their matches then that’s it, but I don’t really think about it.

“I want us to finish the season in the best possible way. I want to take something from the season for next season. If it’s European competition, so much the better. If not, we have to accept it too and move on.