Pep Guardiola warns Man City must be perfect in title run-in amid Liverpool form
Pep Guardiola admits Manchester City need to be close to perfect in the title run-in if they are to win an historic fourth straight Premier League crown.
Champions City kept up their pursuit of leaders Liverpool with a 3-1 win over Burnley on Wednesday, leaving them five points adrift of Jurgen Klopp's side, with a game in hand.
The two rivals, who have been involved in some epic title tussles in the past few seasons, meet at Anfield on March 9 in what could prove to be a championship decider.
City have gone on sustained winning runs in the past to win the title, famously in 2018-19, when they won their final 14 league games to pip Liverpool by a point.
With Klopp's men showing no signs of faltering and determined to send their departing boss on his way as a title winner, Guardiola knows City have little margin for error.
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Liverpool have lost just once this season in all competitions - and Guardiola admits the relentless form of Klopp's team is bringing out the best in his own side, just as it has done in the past.
Guardiola said: "The players want that pressure, to be active. If we were flat against those teams, then I wouldn't have the feeling I've had in the past. When we won a lot of games in a row, we had that feeling that Liverpool would not drop points.
"Now we see they're winning comfortably, so we have to be ready. The players know it. We push each other and until the end we will try to do the same."
City lost successive Premier League games in the autumn, at Wolves and Aston Villa, to fall off the pace in the title race.
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But a return of 16 points from 18 has seen them haul themselves back into contention, with City remaining on course for a repeat of last season's historic Treble.
Guardiola knows his players have the mentality to be champions again, but acknowledged they must be virtually flawless in terms of their results.
"What's important is that we're there,” said Guardiola. "In the first part of the season there were a lot of games, but now we're counting down and we know we can't drop points, with the quality that Arsenal and Liverpool have.
"So one game at a time and we will see what happens. I would say the mentality is there. I don't have any doubts about it. But if we lose a game, maybe people say we don't have the right mentality, like I heard this season. It's not that.
"My feeling is that we're there and this is really nice after where we've come from."
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City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne made his first start in the Burnley win since the opening weekend of the season – ironically also against the Clarets.
Reflecting on his return after a five-month injury lay-off, De Bruyne said: “I'm happy. I've been working hard and training for a long time.
“I still need a couple more games and minutes under my belt, but I'm happy with the way I'm performing. I didn't expect to be out for five or six months.”
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