Carragher: Man City’s title race ‘over before Christmas’ if lose to Liverpool

Jamie Carragher has suggested that Manchester City could see their Premier League title defense come to an end if they lose to league leaders Liverpool on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola's side ended a run of five consecutive defeats in all competitions on Tuesday but collapsed after taking a 3-0 lead to draw with Feyenoord in the Champions League.

City face a daunting prospect this weekend against a Liverpool side riding high under Arne Slot as they look to end a run of six games without a win.

The defending champions remain second in the table, but are eight points behind Liverpool before the match.

In his Telegraph column, Carragher suggested that defeat at Anfield could leave City with too much to do as they bid for five consecutive Premier League titles.

He argued that City would have to produce one of their trademark winning runs to recover the deficit if they lost.

'With some hesitation I will make a prediction that – because of the Guardiola factor – may come back to haunt me. “If City lose to Liverpool their title defense will be over before Christmas,” Carragher wrote.

'An eleven-point lead would be too much.

Carragher added: 'Nobody analyzing their performances would imagine they won't lose more of the 25 games remaining after the trip to Anfield. On current form, City could lose another five or six.”

Despite City's poor form, Guardiola pledged his future to the club last week.

Guardiola's contract expired at the end of the season, before he signed a new two-year contract to extend his stay until 2027.

Should Guardiola see through the contract, the Spaniard's tenure would reach a decade.

“Since the start of the season I have been thinking a lot,” Guardiola said after signing the deal. “I thought it (this season) would be the last.

“But given the problems we've had over the past month, I felt this is not the time to leave. I would have let the club down.

'I felt like I couldn't leave now. It's that simple. Maybe the four defeats were the reason why and I felt I couldn't leave. I felt that the club still wanted me and that we are still together, so I signed.”

Carragher highlighted Guardiola's comments and drew comparisons with the end of Jurgen Klopp's time at Liverpool.

He suggested Klopp had decided to stay at Liverpool longer than he intended to oversee the rebuild after a dip in the 2022/23 season in which the club missed out on Champions League football.

“Guardiola could have retired at the end of this season if his legend was safe, and stepped aside for the next coach to reshape the next era of City success,” Carragher suggested.

Instead, he sounded like a man already thinking about what he will leave behind, his conscience telling him that if a rebuilding is necessary, it is his duty to lead it.

'Guardiola wants to leave City on the same terms and the bad run that preceded his deal convinced him that this was not the right time to face the sunset in Manchester.'