"Chelsea and Liverpool are more than exceptional" - Pep Guardiola plays down claims that Premier League title race is over
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola believes the Premier League title race involving his side, Liverpool and Chelsea isn't over just yet. The Spaniard's claims come despite his side sitting eight points clear at the top of the table.
Both Liverpool and Chelsea dropped points in their previous games to allow Manchester City to expand their lead. While the Reds fell to a 1-0 defeat at Leicester City, Thomas Tuchel's side drew 1-1 with Brighton and Hove Albion. Guardiola's Premier League leaders, meanwhile, picked up a 1-0 win at Brentford on Wednesday night.
A colossal night for @ManCity at the 🔝 https://t.co/tUdiprZEbS
Speaking after the game, the Spanish tactician was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail:
"There are 54 points to play for and so many more tough teams to play so when you put it in that perspective eight points is ridiculous."
Guardiola added:
"The teams we’re competing with, Chelsea and Liverpool, are more than exceptional. One is champions of Europe and Liverpool have been our big rivals in the last three, four years. And we have this distance not because they drop points but because we win 10 games in a row."
The Manchester City boss also referred to his side's game against Leicester City to indicate that the margins are extremely fine in the Premier League. The Sky Blues went 4-0 up before Leicester fought their way back to make it 4-3. But Manchester City eventually picked up a 6-3 victory.
Guardiola said in this regard:
"We were 4-0 up and in 20 minutes it was 4-3 three, four days ago [against Leicester] so all of you, thank you for your nice words because we win but I’m not going to believe any of the words you are going to say about you think it is already done."
Chelsea and Liverpool face each other next in crucial Premier League clash
We go again on Sunday, @JamesMilner 👊 https://t.co/y1KmP7kUnH
Matchday 21 of the ongoing Premier League season features several mouthwatering clashes. While Manchester City take on Arsenal, the headline contest will be between Chelsea and Liverpool on January 2nd.
The Blues welcome Jurgen Klopp's side to Stamford Bridge having been plagued by injuries and inconsistency. Chelsea are likely to be without multiple players against Liverpool and have dropped points in four of their last seven league fixtures.
The Reds, on the other hand, are in the midst of a wobble of their own. Liverpool have managed a draw and a defeat in their last two Premier League fixtures. The Merseyside giants have looked far from their best in recent weeks and will face a stiff test against Chelsea.
Both clubs notably met on matchday 3 of the 2021-22 Premier League season. Chelsea opened the scoring at Anfield via Kai Havertz before Mohamed Salah netted Liverpool's equalizer. Tuchel's side were belligerent in the second half to take home a point despite being down to 10 men.