“I’ll tell you…” – Pep Guardiola sticks up for Liverpool in swipe at ‘pundits and specialists’

Considering the rivalry which has developed between Liverpool and Manchester City over the past decader, it might seem surprising to have Pep Guardiola fighting the Reds’ corner, but that’s exactly what he’s done today.

The Spaniard’s side moved above the reigning champions in the Premier League table last weekend and are currently the closest side to leaders Arsenal, with Arne Slot’s team seeing their title hopes dented by three successive losses in the division.

However, after the cathartic 5-1 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt in midweek, a win at Brentford on Saturday night would see the Merseysiders close the gap on the Gunners to just one point overnight.

Guardiola sticks up for Liverpool in title race claim

Guardiola spoke to the media this afternoon ahead of his team’s clash against Aston Villa on Sunday, and he was asked if City were going ‘under the radar’ in the title race amid a seemingly greater focus on Liverpool and Arsenal.

The 54-year-old replied with a strong hint of sarcasm in his first sentence (via Man City’s official YouTube channel): “In the first two, three games we were out, and now it looks like Liverpool are done. I’ll tell you that they will be back.

“I’ve said many times, I know that all the pundits and specialists, the former players, they know everything that’s going to happen after five games. I’m not able to do that.

“I always wait 10, 15 games to know exactly what’s going on. Liverpool and Arsenal are there, someone else will be there and hopefully we can be there.”

Guardiola is right not to disregard Liverpool in the title race

With momentum heavily shifting towards the Gunners over the past month, some pundits have been quick to cast doubt over the champions’ hopes of retaining their Premier League crown.

Jamie Carragher insisted that the Reds won’t defend their trophy unless they tighten up defensively (an understandable observation with 11 top-flight goals conceded already), while Paul Merson even claimed that Mikel Arteta’s team could potentially ‘run away’ with the title before the turn of the year.

Guardiola is right – eight matches into the campaign is far too early to make any grandiose statements about the eventual outcome in May. Even by the next international break in November, we’ll have a fairer idea of who has the strongest case to come out on top by the end of the season.

One advantage that Liverpool have this weekend is that, even with their game against Brentford being pushed back to a Saturday 8pm kick-off (having initially been scheduled for 12:30), they still play before Arsenal and Man City.

The Reds must duly seize that opportunity to get three more points on the board and lay down a marker for the likeliest challengers to their crown to match on Sunday.

After drawing away to the Gunners at this stage of last season, we were a point behind Guardiola’s team at the summit. Two months later, we were seven points clear at the top and 15 ahead of City.

That just shows how significantly the picture can shift from Halloween to New Year’s, so do not count Liverpool out whatsoever!

You can watch Slot’s full pre-Brentford press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube:

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