‘Makes no difference’… Pep Guardiola makes claim about Liverpool in his Man City press conference

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Liverpool have the chance to go five points clear in the Premier League title race tomorrow.

In a reversal of last Saturday, the Reds are in the the 12.30 slot on Saturday, ahead of Manchester City hosting Chelsea in the evening kick-off.

The reason for Liverpool’s early start is that they weren’t involved in the midweek Champions League games. City meanwhile travelled to Copenhagen, coming away with a 3-1 win.

But speaking in his pre-match press conference via journalist Ian Cheeseman on X, Citizen’s boss Pep Guardiola claimed that the extra game will make ‘no difference’ in the title race.

“We prefer to have all these games in cups because we are “there” then,” Guardiola says. “The fact that Liverpool didn’t play in Europe this week makes no difference to the title race.”

Guardiola unconcerned by fatigue

In any normal title race against any normal team, this is the kind of thing which actually could make a difference. Logically, a team that has travelled and played on Tuesday will be less fresh than one that has had a full week off.

But City don’t work like any normal team. The game in Copenhagen was about as run of the mill as you can get for an away Champions League knockout tie.

Such is the nature and quality of their squad, it would hardly matter at all if they had played three games since Liverpool were last in action.

Every Reds fan will still expect them to turn up against Chelsea tomorrow and bag another win.

But that shouldn’t be of concern to Liverpool. All we need to do is focus on our own matches. Tomorrow is not an easy one, either. The Reds have never won away to Brentford.

It has the potential to be awkward and could give City the chance to really stamp their authority on the race if points are dropped.

Win though, and perhaps Chelsea rolling into town will just become slightly more difficult for Guardiola and co. Needing to make up a five point gap, the pressure will be on just a little more.

This is all without even mentioning Arsenal, who are also in action tomorrow. With their Champions League tie with Porto scheduled for Tuesday, they’ve also had time off this week.

It’s rare that all three teams are playing on the same day, at different times. Strap yourselves in, tomorrow could be a big one.