Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho has fired a title race warning to Liverpool.
The 33-year-old was substituted off after sustaining an injury during his side's 2-0 win in the Manchester derby on Wednesday night.
Victory over Manchester United saw City return to the top of the Premier League table, and the Brazilian has admitted his side have shown great spirit and will fight "like animals" to finish above the Reds.
The veteran midfielder said: "Especially last Saturday after the 'defeat' against Tottenham, the way we played from the first minute.
"We showed the desire in competing for every ball like animals. I think this is the spirit of a team that wants to be champions."
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Jurgen Klopp's team have the chance to go two points clear on Friday as they take on relegated Huddersfield Town at Anfield.
"If you look back to January, they could have been 10 points clear after our game," Fernandinho continued.
"We didn't want that. We reduced the gap to four points and now we are one point up. That is the way the Premier League is going to be decided and I hope we can do our job and win those three games, and be champions again."
With just three games remaining, Pep Guardiola's side will travel to Turf Moor on Sunday to do battle with Sean Dyche's Burnley.
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Fernandinho, who was named in the PFA's Team of the Year, told: "It is going to be a very important, very difficult game for us.
"Now we have three games to play, three finals, and we want to try to win those games."
Following City's clash with Burnley they will play Leicester at the Etihad and finish the campaign in Brighton on May 12.
