Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has claimed the Premier League title race is far from over after watching his side drop points for the first time since October 30 on Saturday night.
The runaway league leaders had to come from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw Southampton.
While it ended City's 12-match winning league run, it did put them 12 points of Liverpool, who do have two games in hand.
Speaking after the match at St Mary's, Guardiola admitted that the dropped points means the race for the league is still ongoing and that his side will need to be at their very best to keep the Reds at bay.
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He said: "The positive thing is that people is going to tell that the title race is not over and that is good for our side.
"Because it's not over, it was not over two weeks ago. Now it will not be over in three weeks.
"So now let's continue to next game against Brentford and after Norwich that they had the momentum and Champions League will start and after Tottenham at home.
"So many tough games we have ahead of us, but try to behave how we are until the end."
Guardiola added to Sky Sports: "I would like to have a 40-point lead ahead of Liverpool, but that is not possible in January. I didn't expect to have this lead (12 points), but now we will rest and come back as best as possible."
Liverpool head into Sunday's match at Crystal Palace knowing a win closes the gap to nine points with 16 games to go.
Jurgen Klopp's side travel to the Etihad Stadium on April 9 for what could be a crucial showdown with City.
