Pep Guardiola has dismissed suggestions Manchester City have handed Liverpool the initiative in the race for the Premier League title following their shock defeat at Norwich City.
Guardiola's side lost in the top flight for the first time since January when they were beaten 3-2 at Carrow Road on Saturday evening.
With City having previously been held to a 2-2 draw by Tottenham Hotspur this season, the champions are already five points behind leaders Liverpool after the Reds extended their 100% start to five games with a 3-1 win at home to Newcastle United earlier in the day.
Guardiola, though, has pointed out the season is only in its early stages and jokingly claimed the championship should already be heading to Anfield.
"We are in September, okay?" he said. "Congratulations Liverpool, you are the champions…
"We’re in September, what do you have to do? We’ll recover, train and come back.
"We’ve dropped five points. Tottenham, we played incredibly well. Today, in the important parts we have to know exactly what to do."
Guardiola also had praise for Norwich, and said: "They are a really good team with good players who have quality, we saw that in the way they destroyed the Championship last year. They were clinical. They have courage. They are brave.
"They want to play and when they lose the ball they defend so deep."
