‘I don’t believe him’ - Pep Guardiola responds to Jurgen Klopp claims Liverpool are out of the title race

Pep Guardiola has dismissed Jurgen Klopp’s suggestions that Liverpool are out of the Premier League title race, with the Catalan claiming the gap at the top is still tight.

Klopp was speaking after his side’s 2-0 win over Leicester City on Thursday when he said Manchester City ‘can’t smell their breath’ in the battle for first place.

But Guardiola has rejected that and said Klopp doesn’t truly believe those comments, with Liverpool just nine points behind in the league and having a game in hand against Leeds United later this month.

“I don’t believe him,” said the City manager, during the second half of his pre-Norwich City press conference.

Asked if he were in Klopp’s position, would he still feel his side could finish top, Guardiola said: “Absolutely. And he thinks the same, otherwise he would not be the competitor that he is.

“Of course he believes he can catch us. In football, anything can happen. But he knows he has to win a lot of games, like we know we have to win a lot of games to be champions back to back.

“If the margin right now was 14/16 points I would say we are closer, “ he added. “But nine points and potentially six in case they beat Leeds. So it’s nothing when you have 40 points to play for. Anything can happen.”

Refusing to underestimate Liverpool

Guardiola has grown used to a title tussle with Liverpool, and between them the clubs have won all of the last four Premier League crowns.

In that period the two teams have also repeatedly put together winning runs and in the last five years the sides have respectively been victorious in 18 consecutive league matches, a record for the division.

City are currently unbeaten in 14 league matches, and Guardiola feels City will have to maintain their excellent form in the final third of the season if they’re to finish first.

“Both teams have shown in the last years they can make incredible runs and victories in a row,” said the former Barcelona manager.

“If one team is able to do it, they can do it again. So both teams have the same managers, squad more or less, same philosophies and ideas. Both teams were able to do 18 wins in a row and we have gone unbeaten for 14 games. We can do it, they can do it too. This is the reality.

“That’s why the Premier League is the nicest title because you have to fight with all the clubs for an incredible amount of problems: for injuries, bad runs, good runs, many things. That’s why these two teams were incredibly consistent in the last seasons.

“This run of points we have done, the last 14 games and still we are potentially just six points ahead. That’s because the opponent is so good too.”

City’s winning mentality

Guardiola was also asked about what it takes to finish in top spot, and the 51-year-old stressed the importance of concentrating on each game rather than focusing on the season as a whole.

“One game at a time, like right now. We don’t speak about how many points we are ahead or behind this season,” Guardiola told reporters via video link.

“Last season, when we won the Premier League, there was one period in November where we were seventh or eighth in the table, and eight or nine points behind the leaders.

“In that moment we think we are out for the Europa League positions and we try and win the next game and we see what happens. It is the same now. Given the table and schedule, it’s just Norwich tomorrow, that is all. The rest is not important.

“We can lose the Premier League losing against Brentford or Norwich,” he continued. “We can win the Premier League by beating Norwich. It’s the same points as the Liverpool, Chelsea, United or Tottenham games.

“It doesn’t matter, there are still 14 games left, so still many points to play for. We have to win a lot of points if we want to be there at the end to win the title.”