The Reds host the Premier League leaders having extended their unbeaten run to 17 games in all competitions by virtue of last week’s dramatic 2-1 FA Cup third-round win over Everton.
City, of course, have only tasted defeat once all season and boast an incredible record of 20 wins and two draws from their 22 top-flight fixtures so far this term.
Nevertheless, Guardiola expects his side to face a ‘real test’ at Anfield - a ground City have not won at since 2003. The Citizens boss discussed that 15-year wait and much more in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
Read on for a summary of what Guardiola had to say...
On Sunday’s game…
Obviously for us it’s a real test, going to Anfield - one of the most prestigious stadiums and teams in the world - and to play a good performance. We are going to try. It’s a big game for us and today and tomorrow we are going to prepare as best as possible to know exactly what is going to happen on Sunday.
On Liverpool and Jürgen Klopp…
I met Jürgen Klopp when I was in Bayern Munich and he was in Dortmund. He’s a guy who tries to play forward with no fear and courage and they play in Anfield so of course we are going to need to defend. But I’m not expecting a team that is going to wait [to see] what’s happening with my team, so I’m pretty sure – he did it last season – that he’s going to try to make his own game and I think it will be a good game.
Hopefully we can do better than last season. Last season we didn’t make a good performance there, hopefully this season we can play better. That is our target, not to focus too much on what they do. Of course we have to analyse what they are, but be especially focused on putting in a better performance and show courage to play in that stage. I think in these kind of games it depends how your mentality is. We will try to do our game and play with personality, just to play who we are, that is what I most desire to see from my team in these games. So be what we have been so far this season. After that, we will see. The players will make the difference.
On whether this will be one of City’s toughest games of the season…
Well it’s another test, we have test after test every three days and this is going to be one more in a big stadium against a really good team. We are going to face them in their best moment of the season, 17 games in a row unbeaten, so I think they’re a really good team and with Van Dijk they are even better.
On City’s poor recent record at Anfield…
I don’t believe in these kind of things [superstition], but of course in 45 years Manchester City have won twice there, the last time 15 years ago, so that means a lot in terms of how difficult and complicated it is to play there. But records are always there to be broken, and maybe on Sunday Sergio [Aguero, who has never scored at Anfield] will break that record.
On whether this season’s reverse fixture, which City won 5-0 after Sadio Mane was sent off in the first half, will have an effect on Sunday’s match…
I don’t think so. It’s far away in the past and a lot happened in that game. I said immediately in the press conference after the match that before the sending off, it was 1-0 and the game was equal. So before the 1-0 from Sergio, we had chances, then after we scored Salah had one or two chances. Of course, after the sending off, especially because we scored again before half-time, that helped a lot, but it’s completely different. Every game is completely different.
On the Reds’ top scorer Mohamed Salah…
[I have] a lot of respect for Salah.