Pep Guardiola has insisted that Man City "need" Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp's side have developed a habit of scoring late, crucial goals, illustrated by Saturday's dramatic comeback against Aston Villa.
Goals in the 87th and 94th minute from Andrew Robertson and Sadio Mane turned zero points into three and ensured Liverpool maintained their six-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Those goals were crucial to keep City at arm's length, as they beat Southampton 2-1, with the two teams meeting in a top-of-the-table clash at Anfield on Sunday.
Speaking to BT Sport ahead of City's Champions League clash with Atalanta on Wednesday, Guardiola paid respect to Liverpool by insisting City need them to be at their best to help them continue to raise their levels of performance.
Similarly, the Spaniard insisted he doesn't believe in luck and the Reds late goals are a result of a strong winning mentality.
"We need this competitor to rise as a club, not just as a team," Guardiola told BT Sports.
"For myself as a manager, as an institution as a club, they push us to achieve another step so if you believe everything is easy and after back-to-back in the Premier League, you can't believe it.
"When the people say 'they are lucky' and my son and daughter say 'they are lucky', I say 'it is not lucky'. It is lucky when it happens one or two times but when last season it happened six or seven times in the last minutes, to come back and win the game, and then this season, it is a special quality.
"The mentality and talent to learn that, I don't believe in football about lucky when it happens many, many times, it is because they're talented."
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