Pep Guardiola Dismisses Jurgen Klopp 'Mind Games' Ahead of Man City's Trip to Burnley

Pep Guardiola has explained why his Manchester City side can ignore the supposed 'mind games' employed by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp ahead of their crucial
Pep Guardiola Dismisses Jurgen Klopp 'Mind Games' Ahead of Man City's Trip to Burnley
Pep Guardiola Dismisses Jurgen Klopp 'Mind Games' Ahead of Man City's Trip to Burnley /

Pep Guardiola has explained why his Manchester City side can ignore the supposed 'mind games' employed by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp ahead of their crucial Premier League trip to Burnley.

Prior to the Citizens' recent game, Klopp has been predicting comfortable wins for their title rivals, moves which have been deemed a psychological ploy to put off the reigning champions.

manchester-united-v-manchester-city-premier-league-5cc568bbaeb5308eab00001b.jpg
Shaun Botterill/GettyImages

With just three matches remaining of the season for City, the title race rests on a knife-edge with a win for Guardiola's men meaning they will sneak one point ahead of the Reds. The Spaniard, however, has dismissed the tactics employed by Klopp, instead insisting the Citizens' future remains firmly within their own hands, while speaking to Manchester Evening News.

"Maybe he was more confident in our victory than myself, I wasn't sure we were able to win there," Guardiola said of the German's prophecy prior to the Manchester United match.

"Maybe we give that confidence off to our rivals. It's in our hands so we don't have to think about that too much. We have to win our games to be champion. At the end, my feeling is the same. They are going to win their three games and we have to win all three games to be champion. 

Burnley pose arguably the biggest threat to City ahead of the final three matches of the season. Sean Dyche's men have a knack of nicking three points from the reigning champions, something Liverpool will be hoping for on Sunday, however, with Guardiola's men in fine form the Spaniard reaffirmed that the club will focusing only on themselves for the final run-in.

"We have won 11 games in a row and we have had that feeling for a long time but every game it is a little more difficult with the pressure because you know it is closer," he added.

manchester-city-v-burnley-fa-cup-fourth-round-5cc5692fd60884998b000001.jpg
Michael Regan/GettyImages

"[...] we know that it depends on ourselves. We don't have to look at what they do. It's in our hands and that is the little advantage that we have right now. If we win on Sunday, next Monday, and the last game in Brighton we will be champions."


Published