Given the fierce rivalry that has developed between Liverpool and Manchester City over the last decade, it might come as a surprise to see Pep Guardiola showing support for the Reds \u2014 but that\u2019s exactly what he\u2019s done.<\/p>\n
The Spaniard\u2019s side overtook the reigning champions in the Premier League table last weekend and are currently Arsenal\u2019s closest challengers. Meanwhile, Arne Slot\u2019s men have seen their title ambitions suffer after three consecutive league defeats.<\/p>\n
However, following a morale-boosting 5\u20131 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in midweek, victory at Brentford on Saturday night would move Liverpool to within just one point of the league leaders, at least temporarily.<\/p>\n
Guardiola backs Liverpool in title race talk<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters ahead of Manchester City\u2019s clash with Aston Villa, Guardiola was asked whether his team were going \u201cunder the radar\u201d in the title race, with much of the spotlight seemingly on Liverpool and Arsenal.<\/p>\n
Responding with a hint of sarcasm (via Man City\u2019s official YouTube channel), the 54-year-old said:<\/p>\n
> \u201cAfter two or three games we were supposedly finished, and now people say Liverpool are done. Believe me, they\u2019ll be back.<\/p>\n
> \u201cI\u2019ve said it many times \u2013 the pundits and ex-players seem to know everything after just five games. I can\u2019t do that. I prefer to wait 10 or 15 matches before drawing conclusions. Liverpool and Arsenal are in it, others will join, and hopefully we\u2019ll be there too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guardiola\u2019s right not to rule Liverpool out<\/p>\n
While Arsenal have seized the momentum in recent weeks, several pundits have started to question Liverpool\u2019s title credentials. Jamie Carragher warned that the Reds won\u2019t retain their crown unless they tighten up defensively, while Paul Merson even suggested that Mikel Arteta\u2019s side could \u201crun away\u201d with the league before Christmas.<\/p>\n
But Guardiola is spot on \u2014 just eight games into the campaign is far too early to make bold predictions about who will win the title. By the next international break in November, the picture should become clearer.<\/p>\n
Liverpool do have a slight advantage this weekend. Despite their fixture being moved from a 12:30 to an 8pm kickoff on Saturday, they still play before both Arsenal and City. A win would pile pressure on their rivals to respond the following day.<\/p>\n
Last season, at this same stage, a draw against Arsenal left Liverpool one point behind City at the top. Two months later, they were seven points clear \u2014 and 15 ahead of Guardiola\u2019s men.<\/p>\n
That shows just how quickly fortunes can change between late October and the New Year. So, anyone writing off Liverpool\u2019s title hopes would be making a serious mistake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Given the fierce rivalry that has developed between Liverpool and Manchester City over the last decade, it might come as a surprise to see Pep Guardiola showing support for the Reds \u2014 but that\u2019s exactly what he\u2019s done. The Spaniard\u2019s side overtook the reigning champions in the Premier League table last weekend and are currently …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":52886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/guardiola-calm-down-768x430.jpg.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52885"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52887,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52885\/revisions\/52887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}