Kevin De Bruyne says Liverpool will push Manchester City all the way in this season's title race

Liverpool returned to the top of the table on Sunday, one point ahead of defending champions City

Mark Critchley
Northern Football Correspondent
Sunday 16 December 2018 22:31 GMT
Comments
Kevin De Bruyne believes this year's title race will go the distance
Kevin De Bruyne believes this year's title race will go the distance (Getty)

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.

Kevin De Bruyne expects Liverpool to push Manchester City all the way in this year’s Premier League title race, though is not worrying about the challenge from Jürgen Klopp’s side just yet.

Liverpool returned to the top of the table on Sunday, one point ahead of defending champions City, following their 3-1 victory over Manchester United at Anfield.

City had spent Saturday night at the summit after their 3-1 victory over Everton, but could now find themselves four points back by the weekend if Liverpool beat Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday night.

The two sides will meet each other at the Etihad on 3 January, having drawn 0-0 at Anfield earlier in the campaign, and the title race duly appears to be taking shape.

De Bruyne sees no reason why Liverpool will not challenge City for the remainder of the campaign, though he is not following their every result just yet.

“I don't know why they can't sustain it,” he said on Liverpool’s title challenge. “I think they will go on to the end.

“To be fair I'm not too worried about them - they will do what they do and we'll have to try to win our games and go forward. They'll try to keep pace with us and vice versa. But it's still early. There's no pressure we need to do what we do.”

While Liverpool remain unbeaten, City suffered defeat in the league for the first time last week away to Chelsea.

That defeat at Stamford Bridge punctured City’s air of invincibility, leading some to reassess their title predictions, and De Bruyne knows that a run of poor results for either City or Liverpool over the busy Christmas period could alter the landscape.

"You know how it goes - you can have a week where you lose three games and everyone speaks differently,” he said. “There's is still so long to go. The amount of games can trip you up, injuries can trip you up."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in