City one to watch

us. Since I arrived here from day one, until the last day, what I want is to fight and play as good as possible to see the Etihad full every single game.

“It belongs to us to play good, to seduce them to come, because the only reason we do our job, and I do my job, is not for the titles. It’s to go to the Etihad Stadium and see it absolutely full with people enjoying games together, because when we win and they’re not satisfied, it’s not a reason to be there.

“It was my mistake that I thought, ‘Oh, it’s Sunday, 1pm, today will be full’. I didn’t know it was BBC1, not Sky, so people can watch it and decide whether to go to the stadium or not.

“If it’s possible to be full for every single game, it will be better. I know for them it’s not easy, that’s why I will always be grateful to the support.”

Despite holding a 3-1 lead Guardiola warned his men to be wary of United, particularly after the Reds beat them at the Etihad last month.

He added: “Their team is good. They have weapons, an enormous big squad and quality there.

“They have quality in the middle, especially with Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard – they are big talents.

“They have incredible players up front. Okay, no Marcus Rashford, but they have Anthony Martial and Daniel James, a good quality of players in the middle like Mason Greenwood.

“When they defend deep, they can run in three or four seconds. We experienced that before.”

■ Fernandinho has signed a one-year contract extension until 2021.