Jürgen Klopp expects Manchester City to stay ‘calm as ice’ in title showdown

Jürgen Klopp expects Manchester City to remain “calm as ice” and immune to the pressure of Liverpool’s re-emergence in the title race when the Premier League rivals meet on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola’s champions have seen a 14-point lead over Liverpool in January reduced to one before a potentially decisive contest at the Etihad Stadium, with Klopp’s team winning 10 consecutive Premier League matches and a club record eight successive away games in all competitions.

But the Liverpool manager, who has a full squad available for his side’s 50th game of the season, does not believe “the best team in the world” will be unnerved by the growing threat to their defence of the title.

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Klopp said: “I know it was 14 points but we had two games in hand, one was Leicester and the other Arsenal. Would I [feel pressure if the roles were reversed]? I don’t know. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been 14 ahead and then all of a sudden only one.

“I wouldn’t imagine they will feel more under pressure. It’s more like – focus on yourself knowing about the situation, looking at the form you are in and that is all OK. It’s not like I think: ‘Ah, they’re under more pressure than us.’ They play at home, they are calm as ice in most of the games they play and we have to be as well.

“It’s an important game, a very important game, but it’s how we realised in the beginning: there is a season after this game and these games are as important as the others.

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