Pep Guardiola reveals how Liverpool warning helped Man City as Premier League title prediction made

Pep Guardiola has admitted that Liverpool's defeat at Everton served as a warning to his Manchester City players.

They leapfrogged the Reds on Thursday after their comfortable 4-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion. Jurgen Klopp's side suffered another setback in their title challenge after suffering a 2-0 loss at local rivals Everton - a second defeat in their last four Premier League outings on Wednesday.

Arsenal recovered from their blip at home to Aston Villa with resounding wins over Wolves and Chelsea, as Liverpool's battle at the top seems all but over. City, who had two games in hand before kick-off on the south coast, cruised into second thanks to a Phil Foden double plus goals from Kevin de Bruyne and Julian Alvarez.

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Guardiola revealed he used Liverpool's defeat 24 hours earlier as a deterrent against letting their stands slip. He said: “I said to the players what happened to Liverpool can happen to us and can happen to Arsenal.

"People didn’t expect them to lose against Crystal Palace and yesterday but it can happen to us – it’s football. Everton is playing to avoid the relegation zone and we have a similar game at Nottingham Forest (on Sunday) and they play for their lives."

Despite the disappointment for the Reds, which leaves them four points off the Premier League pace-setters, Guardiola insists Jurgen Klopp's side are not out of the title race.

"Maybe because they were a real contender of ours for many years, my appreciation for Liverpool is higher than ever," the Spaniard added.

"Still it (the title) is there (for Liverpool) because I know the character of their team. They are going to fight until the end and we have to do it too.”