Ilkay Gundogan makes blunt Liverpool title and Anfield admission before Man City visit

Ilkay Gundogan has pulled no punches over the challenge facing wobbling defending champions Manchester City at Premier League title rivals Liverpool on Sunday. And the veteran midfielder admits it is a game his side cannot lose.

City ended a run of five straight defeats in all competitions on Tuesday when they drew 3-3 at home to Arne Slot's former club Feyenoord in the Champions League. But it was very much two points dropped given Pep Guardiola's men led 3-0 up until the 74th minute thanks to two goals from Erling Haaland and Gundogan's second strike since he returned to the club from Barcelona in the summer.

But the late collapse raised more questions over whether the reign of City, who have won the past four Premier League titles, is coming to an end.

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Manager Guardiola has committed his future to the club by signing a new two-year contract extension. But his injury-hit team will arrive at Anfield with confidence low after a bruising sequence of results never seen at the Etihad since the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss's arrival.

Liverpool, in contrast, are flying under Slot, who has now won 16 of his first 18 matches in charge of the club after taking over from Guardiola's old adversary Jurgen Klopp.

The Reds host Real Madrid in the Champions League tonight before turning their attention to City, who they now lead by eight points at the top of the Premier League.

Victory on Sunday and Liverpool would move a gigantic 11 points clear, which is a gap even Gundogan admits could be insurmountable.

Asked whether City needed to win or at least draw in the biggest domestic game of the season so far, the 34-year-old said: "To stay in the title race probably, yes, because 11 points would be a huge gap. It's still early in the season.

"There are still a lot of games to play and a lot of things can happen, not just on our side but at every other team. But obviously we have to look at ourselves and try to do the things we can do better, as quickly as possible.

"We take it, stay humble, head down and try to put in the work in the next few days and prepare as well as possible for a tough game."

City have only won once at Anfield since 2003 - and that came during the coronavirus hit 2020-21 season when no fans were present in the ground.

And Gundogan, who scored twice that night, admitted: "Anfield is always tough, no matter the situation. We've struggled in recent years going there.

"We know Liverpool are a great team full of confidence right now. It's going to be as tough as it is possible to be. But that sums up the situation right now.

"It seems we have to go through this season the toughest way possible. Obviously we've done this ourselves a little bit but hopefully we can get out of that as quickly as possible, especially in such a big game.

"It would give ourselves a boost to perform well and then obviously to get something out of the game."