Pep Guardiola dismisses idea that Anfield atmosphere will affect Man City players vs Liverpool

Pep Guardiola has dismissed the idea that Manchester City have traditionally struggled when playing Liverpool at Anfield because of the atmosphere generated by the home crowd.

City will travel to Merseyside on Sunday looking to keep up the pressure on league leaders Arsenal, and they will come up against a Liverpool side that has endured a rocky start to the season. Jurgen Klopp's side sit 13 points adrift of the Blues - albeit with a game in-hand - having won just two of their opening eight league outings.

While City have twice to Liverpool in 2022, once in the FA Cup semi-final in April and then in the Community Shield in August, Guardiola's side are undefeated against the Reds in the Premier League for almost three years. During that time City recorded their first league win at Anfield since 2003, a 4-1 win in February 2021 to helped City on their way to winning the title.

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That match was played behind closed doors due to Covid-19 regulations at the time, prompting some to suggest that City crumble when faced with the intimidating atmosphere of Anfield. That certainly appeared to be the case when City lost there twice in early 2018, and the fact that Liverpool have not lost a home league match in-front of a crowd since April 2017 has added further weight to the Anfield legend.

However, when speaking to the press on Friday Guardiola dismissed the idea that a raucous home crowd would in any way sway the result.

"Of course the crowd is involved but basically it [City struggling at Anfield] is because they have a good team," Pep said.

"It’s one of the biggest atmospheres, the nicest ones and it is a joy to be there to be