Pep Guardiola hailed Liverpool counter-attack threats (Image: paroleSPORT)
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has admitted Liverpool's formidable attacking force outplayed his side in their 2-0 defeat at Anfield, heaping praise on five players.
Defending champions City suffered another setback, their sixth defeat in the last seven meetings against Liverpool, pushing them further away from top spot as the Reds opened up an 11-point lead.
Reds manager Arne Slot and his attacking team have received praise from Guardiola ahead of City's next match against Nottingham Forest.
The City boss reflected on the power of Liverpool's front line, conceding: “I love the wingers but I wanted more control because we know when they are losing.” [the ball]the counterattack with [Mo] Salah, with [Dominik] Szoboszlai, with [Luis] Diaz, with [Cody] Gakpo and [Darwin] Nunez.
“They are so fast. Stronger, faster, faster than us in this position.
Arne Slot had a fantastic first 20 games at Liverpool, winning 18 (Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“The first 50, 55 minutes, we [struggled]like many other times coming here at our peak. We suffered, they scored the goal, we were down 1-0. We can't compete with Liverpool. Not just Liverpool but many other clubs, transition teams. »
Meanwhile, Liverpool are positioned as title favourites, now comfortably nine points ahead of nearest rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, although Slot remains cautious, reminding everyone that titles are not guaranteed come December.
“I have already said several times that we do not see things like that at the moment,” explained the Dutchman. “We know we are going to have another difficult week.
“We fought [Real] Madrid and City were very difficult teams to play against, but I think it's even harder going to Newcastle. We're not even halfway through the season yet, but it's a good place to be, it's absolutely true.”
Six of the Reds' next nine matches will be away, starting with Wednesday's trip to St James' Park, but Slot is not worried.
Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah received praise from Pep Guardiola (Image: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
“The good thing for me is that we are not the only ones to have played so many matches,” he added. “For example, we play Everton [on Saturday]they also played a match during the week.
“We know we have another tough week ahead. Most of the time we play teams who are rested for a week because we are playing [in the] The Champions League and a few others don't. But now many teams have a lot of games because it's England and we play a lot of games during this time.
“I didn't know six of the nine were out. But now tell me, this makes it even more difficult, but we are ready.”
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1984272/Pep-Guardiola-five-Liverpool-players-Man-City