Ilkay Gundogan has outlined how Liverpool can “punish” Manchester City, ahead of their vital Premier League clash on Sunday.
With a point separating the two sides at the top of the league table, the stakes couldn’t be much higher ahead of the weekend’s game at the Etihad. As the season enters its final stages, Liverpool will be eager to establish a two-point lead at the top, having been as far as 14 points behind the league leaders at one stage in the season.
City midfielder Gundogan is all too aware of the threat that Liverpool pose to his club’s title hopes. And the Germany international has warned his teammates that they cannot afford to make a mistake against Jurgen Klopp ’s side.
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“Liverpool are among the best teams in the world right now,” he told Turkish TV Channel Tivibu Spor, as reported by the Mirror . “They have achieved incredible form. The league game will be tough. We want to win against them at home. It will be a match between two teams of the same level.
“We must not make mistakes. They are a very effective team on the counter-attack. We are a team that loves to play with the ball. If we allow them to make a turnover, they can punish us. We have to be careful.”
It would appear that there is a mutual respect between Liverpool and City, who engaged in a similar title battle in the 2018/19 season . Speaking ahead of Sunday’s game, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp described his opposite number as “the world’s best manager” , who he admitted has prevented him from winning more league titles in his career..
"If I would be a different person I would probably be a little bit depressed about the fact that Pep Guardiola is constantly coaching these kinds of teams,” said Klopp. “Maybe in Dortmund we could've won more titles if Pep wouldn't have been at Bayern.
"Now, it is pretty much the same, imagine if he would not be here, we probably could've won at least one more league title. But I am not like this, thank God. So, I am completely happy with our situation. I respect a lot what they do, it's an insane football team. And, for me, the world's best manager.
