Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has refused to rule Liverpool out of the Premier League race, despite being 15 points behind league leaders Arsenal after just 12 games.
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Guardiola is too familiar with the strength of this Liverpool team after being pushed all the way to the final day of last campaign to win the title by just a single point.
Liverpool and City have set new ground in the Premier League in regards to how many points it takes to win the league and Guardiola is aware Jurgen Klopp’s side can put a huge winning streak together.
The City manager believes as many as seven teams are capable of winning the title this season with the World Cup throwing huge uncertainty into the second half of the campaign.
“I would say Arsenal, I would say Man City, I would say Chelsea, I would say Newcastle, I would say Tottenham, I would say United, and I would say Liverpool as well,” Guardiola said in his press conference when asked about the title race. “I think these teams can fight for the title.”
Asked why he included Liverpool, Guardiola replied: “Because in the past, with the same manager and the same squad, they are able to make 17 victories in a row, 18 victories in a row, many times these last years, why couldn’t they do it again?
“Nobody knows what’s going to happen after the World Cup, with the transfer window. Nobody knows how the players will come back, so this is my feeling.
“The first candidate right now is Arsenal. Why? They are top of the league, and the rest behind, but the gap is close, so we’ll see how it finishes these last two games, but I think many of these teams deserve to be there, and we’ll see how they play all of them. No doubt they can be there.”
