Pep Guardiola's 'soft' comment shows what he expects from Liverpool FC vs Man City

Pep Guardiola has rarely been in a stronger position when preparing to face Liverpool as Manchester City manager, but you wouldn't know it from his pre-match comments.

City have a world-class striker who seems to score whenever the ball comes into the box. He's got an in-form team, yet to be beaten in the league or in Europe, and a favourable run of fixtures before the World Cup. Contrast that to Jurgen Klopp's problems at Liverpool, with a number of disruptive injuries, patchy form, and a lowly position of tenth in the Premier League table.

Guardiola has never had a better chance to record a statement result at Anfield - somewhere he described as the 'toughest ground in England' to go to. He will be looking to take advantage of Liverpool's issues just as City did in 2020/21, yet Guardiola was doing his best to position City as underdogs in his pre-match press conference.

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Insisting that Liverpool were still title contenders, despite their 14-point gap to top spot, Guardiola also talked up Klopp's men on multiple occasions, and made it clear where he expects City to improve. Listening to Guardiola, you would think it was City in tenth, not second.

Specifically, Guardiola pointed towards City's last two meetings with Liverpool in last season's FA Cup semi-final and this season's Community Shield. Both times, City either rotated heavily or were behind Liverpool in their pre-season fitness progress, and were deservedly beaten, albeit with mitigating factors.

"I had the feeling always in Anfield we have played really well. In other games, maybe in the last two games we were a little bit soft for different circumstances,"