Man City manager Pep Guardiola was speaking after his side’s 5-0 demolition of Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup.
The manager declared that Liverpool ‘are back’ and described Jurgen Klopp’s side as a big rival.
Both clubs took a break from Premier League action at the weekend to feature in the third round of the FA Cup.
City comfortably dispatched Huddersfield Town 5-0 at the Etihad before Liverpool beat Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates.
In terms of the Premier League, Klopp’s side currently lead after a 4-2 victory over Newcastle United on New Year’s Day. The Reds are three points clear of second-place Aston Villa.
City, meanwhile, are five points behind the Reds, although they do have a game in hand on the Anfield club. Guardiola recently claimed that his side will win the title this season, but speaking after his side’s win over Huddersfield, he admitted that he is wary of the threat that the Reds possess.
His words: “In the Premier League, we have one game in hand. We have a big rival, Liverpool are back, Arsenal, many good teams are there, Tottenham, it’s important to be there. But in the same time we know we can’t drop points much or it will be difficult.”
Before he added: “Now we have a difficult game in Newcastle and then we have two weeks to refresh our minds and go to Abu Dhabi to train in better conditions. In the second part, what I want is everyone to arrive fit.
“I want Kevin back, Erling back, Jeremy [Doku] back and Jack [Grealish]. When we have everyone back we have a team that can compete in different competitions until the end.”
