Micah Richards claims the Champions League will have a huge say in this season's enthralling Premier League title race between Manchester City and Liverpool.
As has been the case in recent weeks, both clubs made no mistake on Saturday with the Reds winning 1-0 at Newcastle and City putting four goals past Leeds. The results saw Pep Guardiola's side maintain their slender one-point advantage at the top of the table ahead of the final four games of the season.
Given the way the two title contenders have been playing, it is very difficult to see either of them dropping points in any of their remaining fixtures. However, ex-City defender Richards is concerned elimination from Europe could "knock the confidence" of the defending champions and negatively impact their domestic performances.
The Sky Blues take on Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday having won 4-3 at the Etihad last week. Although City are favourites to reach the final, none could rule out the 13-time European champions from overturning the scoreline at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Richards suspects exiting the Champions League at the hands of the Spanish giants is the "only thing" which could see City open the door for Liverpool in the title race. "The only thing is if Man City were to go out in the Champions League, that could knock the confidence," the former England international told Sky Sports after the win at Leeds.
"When you go into big games and you think you're well prepared and you lose, it knocks the stuffing out of you. That's the only thing I see hampering the rest of City's [season]."
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City's title rivals, Liverpool, booked their spot in the Champions League final with a 3-2 victory at Villarreal on Tuesday night having won last week's first leg 2-0. Richards claimed the two sides are the best of the Premier League era and tipped them both to win all of their remaining games in the title race.
He added: "The standards that both City and Liverpool are setting now... In my opinion, two of the best teams the Premier League have ever seen. They've got to keep doing that. You never know, the Premier League is so unpredictable.
"But I believe that both teams will win all their remaining fixtures, that's how good they've been. There might be one slip-up or one nervy moment. After this week's fixtures - Liverpool winning comfortably and City winning comfortably - I think they'll win all of them."
