90min

Pep Guardiola on Sergio Aguero Fitness, Liverpool & This Season's Title Favourites

By Grey Whitebloom

Pep Guardiola spoke to the media ahead of Manchester City's high profile meeting with Liverpool on the weekend
Pep Guardiola spoke to the media ahead of Manchester City's high profile meeting with Liverpool on the weekend / Marc Atkins/Getty Images
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has tried to downplay the significance of the club's Premier League home game against Liverpool this weekend, touting Jurgen Klopp's side as the 'biggest favourite' to claim this season's title.

After consecutive top flight crowns, City slipped to second place in the Premier League last season, trailing Liverpool by an 18-point chasm. However, both teams have suffered defeats by eye-catching margins in the opening weeks of the current campaign and meet at City's Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon for the first time this season.

Ahead of a clash between the top two sides in England over the past few years, here's what Guardiola had to say in his pre-match press conference.

On Sergio Aguero Fitness

Guardiola (left) has been forced to make do without his striker Sergio Aguero for several months as the Argentine's injury woes mount
Guardiola (left) has been forced to make do without his striker Sergio Aguero for several months as the Argentine's injury woes mount / Pool/Getty Images

For much of the campaign, Guardiola has been without his two senior strikers Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero. The Brazilian 23-year-old returned for a cameo appearance in midweek against Olympiacos in the Champions League but when Guardiola was asked about Aguero's availability he simply replied: “No, he’s not ready," as quoted by the Manchester Evening News. "Not yet.”

On Importance of Liverpool Game

Guardiola may be trying to downplay the importance of the game, but his last match against Klopp was irrelevant as Liverpool had already won the title
Guardiola may be trying to downplay the importance of the game, but his last match against Klopp was irrelevant as Liverpool had already won the title / DAVE THOMPSON/Getty Images

Last season City may have languished in Liverpool's shadow but in the 2018/19 campaign Guardiola's side only bettered Klopp's outfit by a single point, with many suggesting their 2-1 victory in this fixture was the decisive result.

In an attempt to avoiding heaping unnecessary pressure onto his players, Guardiola said: “It is an important game but like presidential elections in the USA all the votes must be counted. [There are] a lot of points to play for. Of course it is important but it is just the seventh game and there are a lot of points to play."

On the Strength of Liverpool

All three of Liverpool's forward line found the net in midweek
All three of Liverpool's forward line found the net in midweek / Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images

“We know we have to do a good performance to beat them, we won and lost in the past. We are going to do our best to beat them.

“It’s always nice to play against the strongest teams and last year they were stronger. They are an exceptional team, they have had the same manager for a long time and it is nice to face him all the time to improve our level."

Liverpool will be without their talismanic defender Virgil van Dijk for the fixture after the Dutch international suffered a nasty knee injury in the Merseyside derby earlier this season. However, in his absence, Liverpool were still able to emphatically dispatch Atalanta 5-0 in their midweek Champions League meeting.

Guardiola was quick to emphasis the Reds' strength, saying: "I will miss him, I like to play with the best players on the pitch and Liverpool remains an incredibly top team because the structure is there, every player knows what they have to do and the result against Atalanta - we faced them last season and know how hard it is to beat them away - and they did it. Liverpool remains a top class team."

On the Premier League's Title Challengers

Liverpool go into the weekend top of the table but Guardiola highlighted the number of potential title challengers this season, explaining: "They are the biggest favourite but with the pandemic the situation is a bit different. I see other teams strong, Leicester maintained the level from most of last season, Arsenal made a big step forward to be contenders and [at] Tottenham Mourinho has the team what he wants.

"Chelsea in the beginning is so stable now and has a huge squad for rotating top players. [Manchester] United in this moment is not in terms of results but we saw the quality they had last season, we suffered a lot in results and up front they are incredibly fast and clinical.

"I think this season will be a lot of teams being there, the last five to ten games will be important to arrive being there to fight for the title. Hopefully we can be there and arrive at the end with a chance to fight for the title."

On What Manchester City Have to Do Against Liverpool

"When you play against teams like Liverpool you always have moments where you have to suffer. We know it, we have to do it and try to use our strength as much a possible. We know each other quite well, we play many many times and I don’t expect a game like 90 minutes we will be there or they will be there.

"There will be ups and downs, we have to be stable and take our good chances and be clinical. Both teams want to attack, both teams want to try. In general, we did games - not over 90 minutes because we are not ready to maintain the level but in general it was good."