Pep Guardiola has warned Manchester City’s Premier League title rivals that his side are back to their best after Sunday’s victory over Liverpool.
A 3–0 thumping of the reigning champions saw City move four points behind league leaders Arsenal, who dropped points 24 hours earlier after a stoppage-time equaliser from Sunderland.
It felt like a statement showing from a City side that were well off the pace last season but have now lost just once in their last 14 games across all competitions, and Guardiola insisted he is now seeing the sort of quality from his side that was produced during their four-straight title triumphs between 2021 and 2024.
“I have the feeling the energy [is] back,” Guardiola confessed as he celebrated his 1,000th game in management. “We are more unpredictable in the way we attack and defend and that is good that the opponents don’t know what we are going to do.
“Last season it didn’t happen, we didn’t handle it well because apparently we didn’t have another target to fight. Nobody had done four titles in a row and we did it and we thought, ‘What’s next?’
“I think the four Premier Leagues in a row affected us in a really bad way. It can be understandable a little bit. We tried to push each other but we were not able to do it.
“Since the Club World Cup, I felt something different in general. It’s nice to still have the feeling that we are back in terms of many things.”
