Daily Express

We’re ready to finish off City

Liverpool hitting top form says Robertson

- By John Cross

ANDY ROBERTSON has warned that Liverpool are ready to go for the jugular in their title showdown with Manchester City.

They will go full throttle at us but we can cause any side problems

Robertson says confidence is sky high at Anfield after Saturday’s 5-1 thrashing of Arsenal and they will go to the Etihad on Thursday believing they can win and take a “huge” step towards the Premier League title.

It is 29 years since Liverpool were last crowned champions in 1990 and yet Robertson claims they are not worried about the growing pressure of being title favourites.

Indeed, City manager Pep Guardiola said on Sunday that the title race would be over should his side lose to Liverpool tomorrow.

“Of course it’s a huge game,” said Robertson. “If we win then we’re 10 points clear of them and of course that’s huge. But also on the flip side they’ll be looking to close the gap to four points.

“We play the way the game tells us to play. Arsenal were quite open and we took advantage of that.

“They also took advantage of us being open for the first goal so we have to look at the goal [we conceded] because it was not good enough. But the way we played was attacking and we scored the goals.

“City are a fantastic team, a very experience­d team and they’ve been in this position before; they’ve won the title. They’re probably more experience­d than us in this position.

“We’re in a good moment just now and they’ll be looking to go full throttle into us. We’ll be wary of that but we need to be at our best and, if we can, we can cause any team problems.

“There is pressure always playing for this club. Fans demand it and we demand it so, in terms of different pressures, we are top of the league and we need to keep going.

“To come through December with the fixtures we had unscathed is a good achievemen­t but nothing is won in December so we kick on now and go into 2019 full of momentum. It is about using that properly.

“We have the confidence of winning every game we play and we take that attitude into every game. We are recovering well and we are playing well, more importantl­y.

“Of course when teams slip up it is nice when we take advantage and we have managed to do that when City dropped six points and Tottenham dropped three. “But who is to say

during the season that they are not in position if we drop points? We know how long this season is and we know it is going to be very hard to go through it unbeaten.

“It is up to us to give 100 per cent applicatio­n to every game and, if we do, we believe we can win every game we play.

“It’s a massive game, of course it is. It’s two good teams going at it and we look forward to it. But Tottenham will be looking forward to capitalise as well because we play each other so both of us can’t pick up full points. They’re away to Cardiff so they’ll be looking to bounce back. This will go the whole way but we’re in a good position. But it’s about continuing that and trying to build on every game that we play.” City broke all records on the way to winning

the title last season as Guardiola’s men swept everyone aside on their way to lifting the trophy.

But they also created an air of invincibil­ity and fear around them which Liverpool seem to have this season. Robertson said: “You need to ask other teams about that. We spoke about City last season and I’m sure every other team did. They were very hard to beat.

“Of course we did it here in the league and the Champions League but, in the league, not many people could touch them. But the thing is, they completed it and they’ve got their winners’ medal and the trophy. Just now, we have nothing and that’s why at the end of the season, hopefully we can talk about it.

“We know how hard it is and we know two teams – probably even more sides – are right on our tails so we keep our feet on the ground and hopefully by then we’ll be celebratin­g.

“If people are worrying coming here then it’s a good sign for us but it’s up to us to keep winning.”

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 ?? Main picture: ANDREW YATES ?? FIRM GRIP: Robertson hails Firmino, the hero of the rout of Arsenal that kept the Reds flying high at the top, while the Scot gets a hug from manager Klopp, right, after the 0-0 draw with City at Anfield in October
Main picture: ANDREW YATES FIRM GRIP: Robertson hails Firmino, the hero of the rout of Arsenal that kept the Reds flying high at the top, while the Scot gets a hug from manager Klopp, right, after the 0-0 draw with City at Anfield in October

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