Pep Guardiola is refusing to believe that Liverpool are any less dangerous this season despite the fact that they are not challenging for the Premier League title.
Liverpool have struggled for consistency all season after taking Manchester City all the way to the final day last year in another thrilling title race, and are out of all competitions. They face a real challenge to qualify for the Champions League next year sitting seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham.
However, Liverpool have beaten City in two of their three meetings this season in league and cup, so Guardiola has warned his City players that their opponents should never be underestimated, and his opinion has not changed on account of their position going into Saturday's showdown at the Etihad.
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"They remain an exceptional team, my opinion doesn’t change for a season with ups and downs," Guardiola said. "For every club can happen in one season these ups and downs.
"My opinion about them remains the same whether it’s winning the Champions League, having the season with up and downs. Nothing changes. Now the biggest rival is another one but whatever happens in the past, in the future they are always a big rival.
"I don’t read much but I don’t pay attention one second what people say about opponents. My opinion doesn’t change. For one game they can beat everyone, like we can beat everyone. One game. It’s the consistency and I don’t know why and honestly I don’t care. I don't know the reason why. You have to ask my colleague."
While Liverpool will go without a trophy this season, City still remain in the hunt for an unlikely treble - and Guardiola accepts that it is a good thing that the possibility of three titles is going somewhat under the radar.
"It's the best approach we can have. It can be boring, maybe the sentences will be more highlighted if I said the opposite," he said.
"The reality is the next game. I said many times, just one team in the Premier League history won the treble of the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup. It's because it’s so difficult, that’s why we don’t think about these kinds of things. We have this game then a long week and then after a tough tough schedule with many games that happened in the past.
"The most important thing is after many years, right now still we are fighting in all competitions and that is awesome, so good. What we’ve lived in the past there is a tendency to drop. Winning is good, confidence, we can do it again. To sustain for 10 or 11 months is so difficult, still we are there. Of course in the Premier League they [Liverpool] are a team who far away from us in terms of points but we’ll see."
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