Pep on ropes as Reds come swinging

Pep on ropes as Reds come swinging – Manchester City launch themselves into a foreboding run of fixtures at home to Liverpool on Sunday with Pep Guardiola under pressure to prove he has not lost his magic touch.

Dumped out of the Champions League by Monaco on Wednesday, City face a five-way scrap with Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United over the three spots in next season’s competition.

Liverpool’s visit precedes back-to-back trips to Arsenal and leaders Chelsea and having already seen his side lose at Anfield, Guardiola knows just how dangerous Jurgen Klopp’s side can be.

“Klopp is a top coach,” the City manager told his pre-match press conference, two days on from his side’s disjointed 3-1 loss to Monaco at Stade Louis II.

“It’s an attacking side: win the ball and attack. He likes to attack in four, five, six seconds all the time.

“He’s a top trainer. I respect (him) a lot. Huge, talented players, English players and foreign players. I think it’s a really good team.

“A good test against one of the best teams in the Premier League.”

City go into the weekend third in the Premier League table, one point above fourth-place Liverpool with a game in hand.

It is a measure of the extent to which Guardiola’s stock has fallen in England that Liverpool could become the first team to record a home-and-away double over a side he has managed.

In addition, City have already lost five times this season and Guardiola has never suffered six league defeats in the same campaign.

But while Liverpool will draw encouragement from their 1-0 win over City on New Year’s Eve, secured by an early Georginio Wijnaldum header, they remain beset by doubts themselves.

The victory against City left them six points below leaders Chelsea, but they have won just three of their nine matches since and continue to fluctuate between bewitching and bewildering.

A dismal 3-1 defeat at Leicester City bridged impressive home wins over Tottenham and Arsenal and they laboured to a 2-1 home victory over Burnley in their most recent outing.