Here are your Liverpool morning headlines for Monday, April 11.
Pep Guardiola shares dressing room request
Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City missed an opportunity to beat Liverpool – and warned his team must now win all their remaining games to fend off the Reds’ championship challenge.
City were pegged back twice as Jurgen Klopp’s side scrapped to a 2-2 Premier League draw at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon. It means Guardiola’s side stay a point clear of Liverpool at the summit with both teams having seven games left to play. And the City boss fears his side being held to a solitary draw during those final games may be enough to let the Reds in to reclaim the title.
“Winning, losing or drawing today, it will not end (the title race),” said Guardiola. “I had that feeling before. Both teams know today was massively important about the distance (between the teams) and we played for that.
“We know they will fight until the end. We know if we draw a game we will not be champions. Now we know it. It will be difficult, but for them too. They also have to win all the games too and we will see.”
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City’s approach echoed the regular Liverpool tactic of pressing high up the pitch, which appeared to unsettle the Reds during a difficult first half for the visitors.
And Guardiola said: “I tried to beat the best team, I am learning. Absolutely went pretty well, it was a fantastic game. Football sides and both teams want to try to win every game in all competitions. It was a good game. I had a feeling the result 2-2… I have to review the game but (I feel) we missed an opportunity to beat them.
“Heads up, I said to the team after the game ‘I don’t want one second sad, go and announce to everyone how good you have done and how proud you are’. It was good game for City fans, Liverpool fans, UK fans, everyone around the world. It is nice to say that. It was good for football.
“We watch Liverpool in the Premier League and Europe in the last five years and we know exactly what they do, the chances they created and what they gave away. We conceded so few (chances) and created a lot of chances. In general it was a good performance, I’m so happy and glad and proud of my team.”
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Roy Keane sends Liverpool message
Roy Keane believes it would mean more for Liverpool to beat Manchester City to the Premier League title as opposed to the Champions League this season.
The two sides are battling it out for glory both domestically and in Europe, with only one point separating the teams in the top-flight and a potential meeting in the final of the Champions League on the cards. City remain in search of Europe's elite prize as a club and under Pep Guardiola, though will have hopes of changing that this campaign.
Liverpool are no strangers to success in the Champions League, however, and most recently won the tournament in 2019. The Reds ended their wait for the Premier League title the following season, though were denied the celebratory scenes witnessed after success in Madrid due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Jurgen Klopp's men will have hopes of lifting both trophies come May, though Keane is of the view that the top-flight title would represent a more favourable outcome for players and fans alike. Speaking after Sunday's 2-2 draw, he told Sky Sports: "They [Liverpool] would want to win it in front of their supporters. The players didn’t get a chance to enjoy it, but they’d enjoy it even more."
On whether he would rather win the European Cup or Premier League, he continued: "League title, every day of the week. It's what you do week in, week out in terms of what you stand for as a player. The Champions League is brilliant, there’s glamour behind it and a prestige, but I think a league reflects on what your team, manager and the club stands for. You’re doing it week in, week out. Obviously the Champions League is difficult, but I’d pick a league title."
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