WE MUST KEEP COOL
VINCENT KOMPANY says Manchester City must stay cool to avoid another defeat at Liverpool.
Champions City face the biggest test of the season with Sunday’s trip to Anfield, where they lost twice last season.
City’s unbeaten run in the Premier League came to an end in January with a 4-3 defeat at Liverpool, and they then lost 3-0 at Anfield in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final before crashing out.
They last won at Anfield in 2003, when a Nicolas Anelka goal gave City a 2-1 win, and have lost on six of their last seven visits.
Although City won the title by 19 points last season, only goal difference now separates them, with Kompany convinced City will be pushed all the way in the title race this season.
“I think if you take all four games against Liverpool last season, including the home games, it’s a game of small margins,” said skipper Kompany.
“You look at each and every game and there’s not a lot of difference in terms of how the games happened.
“One game we were more efficient and scored five, the other game they scored three in, what, 15 minutes? That’s how these games seem to go.
“The margin is so small between both teams and a lot of things happen in a very short period of time.
“You have to make sure you can control this and be at our best on the day.
“We prepare for every single game well. But these kind of games you need a lot of things to come together.
“You need a little bit of luck, a good performance, you need to be clinical and defend well and that goes for both teams.
“It’s too close, I think, to actually make any big statements. That’s what makes this game so interesting.”
Kompany said it would be foolish to discount Chelsea in the title race, while Tottenham and Arsenal remain within touching distance.
“I don’t agree with just putting City and Liverpool as title contenders,” said the Belgian centre-back.
“Chelsea have shown so much already this season, while Arsenal and Tottenham are coming back. You’d think there’d be a bigger points gap by now but there’s not.”