'Not realistic' - Pep Guardiola performs u-turn on Man City and Liverpool title verdict

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Pep Guardiola has backtracked on his assertion that Manchester City's title chances could be over this weekend. Instead he insisted that Sunday's clash at Liverpool will not define the Premier League title race, even if Arne Slot's side move 11 points clear of Guardiola's struggling City squad.

City have lost three Premier League games in a row as part of a wider six game winless run, and are without a number of key players.

As Guardiola reminded reporters on Friday, he is without his two defensive midfielders and has had four centre-backs missing for a number of weeks. ALSO READ: Gvardiol and Walker out, Gundogan vs De Bruyne - Inside Guardiola's Man City dilemma vs Liverpool ALSO READ: Every word from Pep Guardiola ahead of Liverpool vs Man City After the league defeat at Spurs, Guardiola agreed that the title would be beyond City if they lost at Liverpool, saying: "Yep.

In terms of Liverpool winning, winning, yep. I would say when you lose three games in a row it is the most wrong thing to say that you will be champions." Guardiola was asked the same question ahead of the Liverpool trip but insisted there is still plenty of football to play - and a lot of players to return - regardless of what happens in Sunday's Anfield clash. "In the situation we have it's not realistic to think about big targets," he said. "The situation is to think about one game and build the momentum to continue.