City confirm guard of honour for Liverpool

PEP Guardiola has confirmed that City will give Liverpool a guard of honour when they go to the Etihad Stadium on Thursday.

The Blues boss made it plain that his players will line up to greet the new Premier League champions ahead of the meeting between the top two, seven days after City’s defeat at Chelsea handed the Merseysiders the title. It is still unclear whether the usual format of the guard of honour will have to be altered to comply with the league’s social distancing rules.

But when asked whether City will form a guard, Guardiola said: “Of course we are going to do it.”

He was also asked if he would also stand in line and clap, but possibly misinterpreted the question, simply answering: “We are going to do the guard of honour, of course.

“We have always received Liverpool when they came to our house in an incredible way.

“They cannot complain and of course we are going to do it because they deserve it.”

Relations between the two clubs have hit an all-time low in the last couple of years, after Liverpool fans attacked the City team bus, without real repercussions, ahead of a Champions League game at Anfield in 2018. Guardiola was furious about the lack of protection afforded to the team bus by Liverpool stewards and Merseyside Police.

Since then, the database-hacking scandal has come to light, and City were not happy that Liverpool joined with other of City’s top ten rivals to urge stiff action against them for alleged financial fair play breaches.