Pep Guardiola lays out demands as Man City prepare for Liverpool last chance title clash

Pep Guardiola has told his Manchester City players to make Liverpool earn the Premier League crown if they lose it this season.

City are eight points behind Liverpool ahead of Sunday's clash at Anfield and the Reds are the bookmakers' favorites to win the competition. Guardiola's City have won a record four titles in a row and he called on his players, who have lost their last five games, not to hand the title to Liverpool.

Asked what a good season would look like from this point, the City boss said: “I don't know. By our standards it will be a bad season. We come from there [top] so we can only go down if we lose.

“It's fun. I think we deserve some patience when we lose games. It won't be a big mess. You're defending a legacy, tradition, success and that's so hard to deal with.

“If we don't do it, try to concentrate on short periods and win the next games. What I want is the commitment of the players to still do what we have to do.

“We congratulate the team that takes our crown because they deserve it, not because we give it to them. We have to be ourselves every training and every match and do what we have to do. This is the only way I know.”

City play Feyenoord at the Etihad tomorrow night and they need to win, while test trips to Juventus and Paris St Germain follow if they want to finish in the top eight of the Champions League and avoid a play-off in February. Guardiola insists he will not change tactics in light of his worst losing run as a manager after losing 4-0 to Tottenham on Saturday, saying his methods have worked in the past.

The Catalan has won 18 trophies in his eight years at Etihad and said: “What do I need to change? We are big believers in the process and the fundamental things we need to do.

“Injured players need to get back into their best shape, players who have played a lot of minutes due to injuries need rest. One good result can change our minds and we are convinced that if we win big, this will pass and it will pass right now. Nothing is eternal.

“The moment we started winning again, I thought we were going to lose games. It's actually unusual because this team has won a lot over many years.

“In this situation we have to go more directly to our principles and change less than ever, because at the end we had 26 shots against Spurs. We expected more goals than them and created a lot of chances.

“But there are departments where we are not strong enough and that is why when we lose in certain situations they are stronger than us and we have to run backwards because our four central defenders are not there. They're still not ready because they're injured.

“One day we will win a match and our thoughts will be clear. I hope that will happen on Tuesday, if not Sunday. The desire is there and we are going to try.”