Any pressure Manchester City face in the Premier League title race needs to come from within, according to Ilkay Gundogan.
After steaming to the title in 2018 and then pipping Liverpool earlier this year, Pep Guardiola's side are aiming to make it three in a row and have picked up seven points from a possible nine so far.
However, Tottenham have taken points off them and Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool have a 100 per cent record that includes a comfortable win over top-six rivals Arsenal.
With last season's top two already occupying those spots after just three games, even with the season barely started the platform is there for another titanic tussle between the two.
Gundogan believes that the competitors could help push each other on as they did last season, but stressed that the pressure on City will be from the players themselves rather than anything that happens at Anfield.
Asked about the impact of Liverpool's early form, he said: "I think we should always put ourselves under pressure because we are so talented and such a good team that we want to win every game, so the pressure comes from inside.
"The fact that Liverpool does so well recently just shows that there is a team with a lot of quality that will also be a big contender for the season.
"That's good for the league, maybe also good for us but also good for Liverpool that we are there so it's going to be a fight. It's not going to be easy so we have to be there, we have to win and that's the game."
