Pep Guardiola makes Arne Slot Liverpool admission amid nightmare run of form

Pep Guardiola has praised Liverpool boss Arne Slot ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash at Anfield. The Reds have enjoyed a phenomenal season so far under their Dutch head coach with a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest in September their only loss in all competitions.

Liverpool's impressive form has seen them lead the top flight table by eight points after 12 games with Guardiola's reigning champions training behind in second. City have struggled badly with five consecutive defeats and will fall 11 points off Slot's team if they lose on Merseyside this weekend.

Both teams will currently be focused on midweek Champions League fixtures with Liverpool hosting Real Madrid on Wednesday after City face Slot's former team Feyenoord on Tuesday.

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And Guardiola has praised the week of Slot from his time in the Eredevise where he won a league title and cup across three seasons in the Netherlands.

"He did very well and his results at Liverpool have shown that," the City boss said at his pre-match conference on Monday. "He's proved the quality that he has."

LIverpool's start to the 2024/25 campaign is their second best in the Premier League era with it only bettered by Jurgen Klopp's title winners in 2020. However, Slot is not getting carried away.

"I don't talk about favourites," he said on Friday. "It is boring but I just talk about the next game, which is a challenge in itself. In the Premier League the margins are very small. That is 'true' all season. I have followed the league and there was a moment when City were eight points behind Arsenal, so there is no use in getting carried away at all at this moment in time.

"These teams like City, Arsenal and Chelsea, even [Manchester] United and all the others, are able to put together a run of games like we did. So we are not getting carried away at all and looking at it in terms of favourites."