Aymeric Laporte admits Man City feeling Liverpool ‘pressure’, but sends defiant Premier League title message

Aymeric Laporte has admitted that Manchester City are feeling the pressure from Liverpool in the Premier League title race – but that the pressure is spurring his side on.

City had a 14-point lead at the summit in January and looked to be cruising to another title under Pep Guardiola. However, two draws and a defeat since then allowed Liverpool to close the gap.

Indeed, the Reds had two games in hand and have won all but one league game since early January.

The only outlier was a 2-2 draw against City in April, which kept Guardiola’s side ahead by a point at the top.

As a result, both sides have been swapping places in recent weeks, one winning first before with the other responding.

The same happened on Saturday as Liverpool beat Newcastle 1-0 away from home to move two points clear at the top. City subsequently secured a 4-0 win at Leeds United to reclaim their slim advantage.

Spain international Laporte told City’s official website of the latest results: “It was very important to win and we did it. We need to continue the same way

“We knew Liverpool had won earlier and they keep getting good results, so we had to do it as well.

“I think we have been at a great level all season and today we managed to respond to the pressure with another solid performance.

“Of course, we watch Liverpool games and results, but we only focus on ourselves and to make sure we do our job.”

Man City and Liverpool were in the same situation in the 2018/19 season. In the end, neither side slipped up and Guardiola’s team edged the title win by 98 points to 97.

Should both teams do the same this season, City would win it with 95 points ahead of Liverpool on 94.

Laporte has played a vital part in City’s latest title charge. The 27-year-old has