Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has refused to rule Liverpool out of this season's Premier League title race - despite the Reds' underwhelming recent form.
After just eight Premier League games, Jurgen Klopp's side sit 14 points behind league leaders Arsenal, after they were defeated at the Emirates 3-2 last Sunday. Liverpool have registered just two wins since August and subsequently have been unable to replicate the form that saw them go within a whisker of achieving a remarkable quadruple just five months ago.
Last week's defeat in the capital means Liverpool are now also 13 points behind City, who have won six of the last eleven Premier League titles, and the two sides go head-to-head at Anfield on Sunday afternoon in a fixture that has frequently been dubbed as a 'title decider' in recent seasons, no matter how early in the calendar it takes place.
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But despite Klopp's side labouring in the bottom half of the table ahead of the Citizens' trip to Merseyside, Guardiola has refused to rule them out of the Premier League title race and insists they, like Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham, will push his side all the way to the finish line once again.
"Arsenal is already there [challenging at the top of the Premier League], for many years they were not there but with patience with Mikel, he changed not just the team but the whole club," Guardiola told reports on Friday afternoon. "Tottenham will be there and of course Chelsea and all the teams, Liverpool as well.
"What happened in the previous four of five seasons, we have always considered Liverpool, maybe Jurgen is not agreeing right now, as a contender. As I said before, [If] there were two months left I would say, 'Maybe it's too late.' [But] it's just one quarter of the season, there are a lot of games to play and many things can happen.
"The Premier League is fascinating because there are many, many teams who challenge to be champion," added the City boss. "The last season Liverpool and ourselves were concentrating on the chance to be champion. In October, no one is champion and no one is out of the road, this is my opinion."
Manchester City will visit Anfield looking for just their second Premier League victory at the stadium since 2003, but their chances of achieving such a rare feat are boosted by the existence of Erling Haaland. The striker, who joined Manchester City for £51m during the summer, has scored 15 goals in just nine Premier League appearances so far, making him without a doubt the most in-form forward in the world.
However, Haaland - who managed to find the back of the net in his only other previous visit to Anfield, which came during his time with Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg - will be hoping to continue his impressive scoring form and achieve something Sergio Aguero couldn't by scoring at Anfield in a Manchester City shirt.
But Guardiola has played down the impact of Anfield's atmosphere on Aguero's record, insisting it was down to the Reds' impressive displays, rather than the atmosphere, that City's former No.10 was unable to find the back of the net.
"I don't know, it should be a question for Sergio in that case," said Guardiola when asked about the struggles of leading the line at Anfield. "I don't know. It should not be different. It's a football game, eleven against eleven, the pitch is the same. If it is difficult to score at Anfield it’s because the opponent is difficult. It is not because of the stadium. I have never been in Anfield as a striker trying to score a goal, so I haven’t had that feeling. So I don't know, it should not be [different].
"The biggest challenge Erling had was to adapt here as quickly as possible - and it happened. He didn’t have any mates. It’s a different lifestyle here in England. In the beginning, this is the most important thing because then he can be himself. At the end, what you have to do in every single game is perform as best as possible."
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