Pep Guardiola’s Man City are jealous of Liverpool’s positive press – but that bitterness can drive the champions to yet another Premier League title

He clearly doesn’t like how different news outlets cover Jurgen Klopp’s successes at Anfield, but it’s helped his team’s success.

Pep Guardiola says that Brian Kidd, who used to be city’s assistant coach, told him not to worry about the League Cup when he first got there. “Play the young players,” Kidd said. “Nobody cares.” But Guardiola didn’t pay attention. He played the game seriously and led City to four straight wins from 2018 to 2021, but he didn’t think he got enough credit for what he did.

A lot of anger was shown. Guardiola felt that the press was portraying Liverpool’s victories in 2022 and 2024 in a very different light than City’s. This wasn’t the first time that the Catalan felt this way…

No praise for City?
In May 2019, after City had just barely beat Liverpool to win the Premier League title by a point, Guardiola said that people didn’t appreciate what his team had done and that they were victims of their own success.

“Liverpool have gone 29 years without winning the Premier League – so it’s normal people are waiting for them to finally win,” the former Barcelona manager said. It would have been “incredible” if Liverpool had won the Premier League, though. It’s “Oh, it’s OK” when City wins. It is an accomplishment…”

Ad by Getty: “Everyone in this country backs Liverpool.”
After three years, City and Liverpool were in a thrilling title race that City would win by a single point. In an interview with beIN Sports, Guardiola went even further, saying, “Everyone in this country supports Liverpool, the media and everyone else.”

It was a completely ridiculous claim. If Guardiola had only said that some ex-Liverpool players work in the media (like Jamie Carragher, Danny Murphy, Jamie Redknapp, etc.), that would have been fine. He could have said that some experts weren’t being fair.

But to say that everyone in England cheers for Liverpool was ridiculous, especially since many rival clubs take part in “tragedy chanting” at Anfield and make fun of Merseyside’s social and economic issues.

Then Guardiola made a small joke about how bad the Reds’ Premier League record was, which made him look even worse. “Liverpool has an incredible history in European competition,” he told us. “But not in the Premier League, where they’ve only won one title in 30 years.” It’s not a problem at all, though.

But Guardiola’s constant sniping makes it look like that’s not the case.

“Are we to blame?”
When City’s title wins were called into question because the club was charged with breaking 115 Premier League rules about money from 2009 to 2018, he got angry and said, “I don’t know if we are responsible for Steven Gerrard slipping [in 2014].” Are we to blame?”

Both City and their manager said that the line about Liverpool fans being ‘battered in the street’ wasn’t meant as an insult to Sean Cox, who was seriously hurt when Roma fans attacked him outside of Anfield, but neither the club nor Guardiola felt the need to explain why singing that line was okay in the first place.

Mahrez Riyad Manchester City vs. Liverpool in 2022–23
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“They’re tired of us”
However, City’s clear dislike of Liverpool has been a blessing for Guardiola in the end. It’s not easy to keep famous people engaged, after all.

Michael Jordan, the famous basketball player, pretty much ran out of good opponents, so he made up enemies just to keep himself interested. For some people, putting other people down can be just as enjoyable as staying on top. In fact, Guardiola’s City have taken great pleasure in not only winning five Premier League titles but also keeping Liverpool to just one during Klopp’s golden era at Anfield.

I think Liverpool is a crazy team. They work well together. “But I know they hate us,” Riyad Mahrez, a former winger, told Canal+ in May 2022. It’s getting old for them because they would have won every year without us. We won’t give up, though, and we’ll be back next year too.

Julius Klopp Pep Guardiola’s Premier League in 2021 and 2022
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Pep’s City and Klopp’s Liverpool are inextricably bound.
In this way, Liverpool has helped City stay not only at the top of their game but also at the top of the league. They wouldn’t have been able to win as many titles or set as many records without the Reds. They wouldn’t have had to play as hard for as long.

When Klopp said he was leaving, Guardiola said, “I was shocked, like everyone else, by the news. I felt like a part of Man City would be lost.” We can’t describe our time here without him and Liverpool; it’s impossible.”

However, it has been said that Guardiola and Klopp’s respect for each other means that Liverpool and Manchester City can’t really be called rivals in English football. This has been known for a while: Guardiola has a lot of respect for Anfield, but he also wants the mood that it creates.

He pretty much said that the Etihad crowd was asleep during their first Premier League match of the season, and he knows full well that Klopp won’t have to wake them up when they play again on Sunday.

So, there’s no question that Guardiola will be determined to get his first win in front of the fans at Anfield. His only other win came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when everyone was inside.

This is the best time to do it because Liverpool is badly trying to get three points, which would help them a lot in their quest to make sure Klopp leaves with a second Premier League title, which will scare City and drive them to win.

A. Pep Guardiola Theodoros Tsimikas Manchester City vs. Liverpool in 2022–23
Getty City has a right to feel hurt?
Last season, Guardiola was thrilled when his team beat Liverpool at the Etihad, even though Liverpool wasn’t even in the title race. He even screamed at Kostas Tsimikas when he scored a goal.

There is no doubt that the news of Klopp’s departure in the summer, along with the outpouring of emotion that has followed it, has made Man City even more motivated to win their fourth straight title. If they fail, it would ruin the German’s farewell party. They just won’t want Liverpool to get any of the praise they think they deserve so often.

Does City have a right to feel this way? The media gushed over Klopp and his kids after they won the Carabao Cup. Should Pep and his players be both envious and upset by this? In a way, it doesn’t matter.

In the end, City’s view that no one cares when they win the same trophies as Liverpool has helped them, not hurt them. Because City’s long-term success has been driven by two things: a love of winning and a hate of losing to Liverpool.