"We are not able now to compete with them" - Guardiola on contending with Liverpool

Pep Guardiola has lost four games in the Premier League and sit third with 32 points

"We are not able now to compete with them" - Guardiola on contending with Liverpool
Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola has admitted that Manchester City does not have the quality it takes to compete against Premier League leaders, Liverpool FC.

The Citizens lost by 2-1 against Manchester United at the Etihad on Saturday evening.

Following an open start at Etihad Stadium Marcus Rashford put United ahead on 23 minutes. He converted from the penalty spot after the VAR alerted referee Anthony Taylor to a foul by Bernardo Silva on the United forward.

Six minutes later it was 2-0 as Anthony Martial's shot beat Ederson on his near post.

 

 

Both sides continued to have opportunities in an enthralling encounter, but it was not until the 85th minute that City scored, Nicolas Otamendi heading in Riyad Mahrez's corner. 

City chased an equaliser but United hung on to put the champions 14 points behind Liverpool's 46 in third.

"United have the quality to defend and the quality to attack on the counter-attack and you have to accept that," Guardiola said.

"That is the level we face, against Liverpool, United, Barcelona, Madrid, Juventus - they are the teams we have to face and the reality is maybe we are not able now to compete with them.

"We have to improve and accept it and move forward. Maybe we need to live that as a club to improve, to accept the reality now and improve."

The loss means Manchester City are behind Liverpool by 14 points, as they are stucked at third with 32 points.

 

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Guardiola continued: "The reality is we are 14 points behind for the mistakes we have done, for the quality of our opponents and especially, as well, the things we cannot control. That is the reality but we have to continue.

"We are at the beginning of December and we have other competitions to play in and other games to fight and improve on.

City will play Dinamo Zagreb in the final group game of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. With many suggesting a shift of focus towards the Champions League, Guardiola has ruled that out and still believes it’s about points accrual from one game to the other.

"Maybe this is going to help us for the future so we need to live this as a club to be better.

"We are not thinking of winning the Champions League, I am not thinking about how many points we need or how many points they have to drop.

"We are trying to win games, to win the next one."