Pep Guardiola has advised his Manchester City team to be prepared to ‘overcome absolutely everything’ as they travel to Liverpool for an important title showdown.
The champions are travelling to Anfield on Sunday for a game that could significantly impact the fate of the Premier League crown.
The atmosphere is likely to be intense with all the pressure that can bring, for the players and especially the referee, but Guardiola hopes his side can rise above it all.
‘When that happens we have to perform better,’ the City manager said. ‘We cannot control what happens in these stadiums with the referees.
‘We have to do better. It’s the only thing we can do. It’s not the first time, it will not be the last.
‘We have to overcome these situations and to do the peak achievement, of trying to fight for the fourth Premier League in a row, that no team have done, never ever, this is the type of challenge we have to face – overcome absolutely everything.
‘Otherwise will be difficult, in this case, to win on Sunday. But, whatever happens, I’m pretty sure we’ll perform well.
‘And, whatever happens, still we’ll have many, many games to play. This is a really important game for the title challenge, but I still have the feeling that many things are going to happen.’
Guardiola has declined to engage in a war of words before the game following Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold's statement that winning trophies meant more to the Merseyside club than City.
Guardiola insists that the opinions of those outside the club have no impact.
He said: ‘We have a public job and the job cannot be done without the opinion of the external people, so it’s normal.
‘There are good ones and bad ones, it’s not a problem. We have to live with that, we have to deal with that, otherwise you cannot be in that world.
‘But at the end, inside of the ropes, we know who we are, what we have to do.’
