Ilkay Gundogan suggests Liverpool's lighter fixture load is an advantage
City remain stretched across four competitions while Liverpool are now focused solely on the Premier League and Champions League
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Ilkay Gundogan has suggested that Liverpool are at an advantage in chasing just two titles – the Premier League and the Champions League – compared to Manchester City’s pursuit of four.
Liverpool were knocked out of the League Cup in September by Chelsea before losing to Wolves in the third round of the FA Cup last month.
Manchester City, meanwhile, remain stretched across all four competitions as they chase an historic quadruple.
And Gundogan, speaking in the wake of City’s 3-1 win over Arsenal, suggested Liverpool’s lighter load may well benefit them in the coming weeks.
When addressing the differences between Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, having played under the latter during his early Dortmund days, Gundogan said: “They are different in terms of playing style and their characters, but both of them are great people, great human beings that I really like.
“Klopp didn’t win as much as Pep won – that’s why it was quite surprising when he was able to win two titles in a row with Dortmund in Germany. I just joined them for the second one.
“When you have to run in the season you don’t think about much things. You go out and play. When you have no concerns in your mind you are able to win a lot of times. That’s how I felt when we were able to win at Dortmund that title.
“We had an advantage of just playing Saturday, Saturday, Saturday and the week off in between. He [Klopp] is in a similar situation now with Liverpool – just the Premier League and then the Champions League on top.
“Maybe it’s going to be an advantage for them, I don’t know. It’s nothing we can change right now. They have to play their games and we have to play ours.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments