Win or lose, Pep won’t judge City

Pep Guardiola insists next weekend’s highlyanticipated clash with Liverpool will not affect the way he sees his Manchester City team.

The pair sit together at the top of the Premier League table on 19 points after City defeated Brighton 2-0 before Liverpool secured a late equaliser to draw with Chelsea and preserve their unbeaten record.

City strolled to the title last season, playing only for records over the final weeks, but this campaign is shaping up differently, with Chelsea and Liverpool looking capable of a serious challenge.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were Guardiola’s nemesis last season, winning three of the four meetings, including both legs in the Champions League quarter-finals.

City have not won at Anfield since May 2003 and have lost on their last six league visits.

Guardiola said: “I believe too much in that team, in those guys. I know how they fight. Go to Anfield, win, lose, whatever. It’s a long time ago Man City was able to win at Anfield. What I want to see is the team alive, and we are alive.

“If they beat us three times, they are a good side. They lost the first game in the Carabao Cup [against Chelsea last week] but at Anfield they score a lot of goals, they don’t concede.

“Now it’s Hoffenheim, and after that we are going to prepare, and after that we’re going to prepare for Burnley. At the end, we’re going to see what happened at the end of the season.”

Tomorrow’s Champions League clash in Germany has been given added weight by City’s opening loss to Lyon, but their week began positively with a routine win over Brighton.