Pep eyes City title tilt, Keane writes off Liverpool

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Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City's 3-0 win over defending Premier League champions Liverpool shows his side are ready to compete for the title again this season. "I said to the players, 'Don’t do it because yesterday Arsenal didn’t win, do it because we believe in ourselves that we can play against the champions of England and show they we are ready to be there with him this season’," Guardiola said.

"Today we proved it, we did it – especially in the first half." But while Guardiola can think of putting pressure on Mikel Arteta’s Gunners after the international break, Arne Slot admitted Liverpool cannot spend time thinking about the title race until they have fixed the issues which have seen them lose five of 11 in the league to fall eight points off the pace. "I said last season many times, even when we were leading, the best time to judge the league is of course after 38 games and then next best is after 19 games because you have played all the opponents.

"Our first focus should be on getting results and the last thing we should focus on is the title race…We need to improve, that is obvious." However, former Republic of Ireland and Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane believes Liverpool are now out of the title race and in crisis. "At this moment in time you can’t be considering Liverpool for the Premier League title; that’s five losses now," former Manchester United captain Keane told Sky Sports.