Pep Guardiola has claimed the Liverpool side his team are up against in the Premier League title race are the best in the club's history.
City's 1-0 win over Tottenham on Saturday lunchtime saw them edge closer to beating the Reds in a thrilling, topsy-turvy battle which has seen both sides race well clear of the chasing pack.
Liverpool can move back ahead of City if they beat Cardiff on Sunday having played a game more, with the Reds never having won as many points at this stage of a season.
And Guardiola somewhat surprisingly gave the opinion that his side are up against the greatest Liverpool team of all time.
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Speaking in his post-match press conference, Guardiola said: "Especially after 100 points last season, we have the best Liverpool ever, and one of the best sides I have played against offensively, so being still there, with having one of the best players not being involved for much of the season (Kevin De Bruyne), and being there every few days it is really remarkable, and when I appreciate the most of my players."
It is a huge claim which may be disputed by Liverpool fans, but Guardiola says he will be magnanimous in defeat if Jurgen Klopp's side do eventually beat City to the title.
"Of course we want to win it, but I will not judge if at the end we cannot do it, because I will give a lot of credit to Liverpool," he said.
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Reflecting on the performance against Tottenham, where City bounced back after their heartbreaking Champions League loss, Guardiola said: "The defeat on Wednesday was tough to take the last two days, but today we started incredibly well.
"After that, we had the game that we expected because Spurs are an incredible team. But we are there, we have suffered at times this season."
The huge games don't stop coming for City as they travel across Manchester to Old Trafford for a massive derby on Wednesday night.
