Rio Ferdinand believes Manchester City will finish comfortably above Liverpool in the Premier League this season, after edging the Reds via a penalty shootout at Wembley.
A fiercely contested curtain-raiser for the new season saw Raheem Sterling's first-half effort cancelled out by Joel Matip's equaliser, before Claudio Bravo's save to deny Georginio Wijnaldum in the shootout proved to be decisive.
That victory will provide a stepping stone for City to build upon when the Premier League returns next weekend, where Liverpool are expected to be their main rivals for the title.
However, according to Ferdinand, Guardiola's side will finish way ahead of the pack come the end of the campaign, as he made a bold prediction.
BT Sport commissioned a script ahead of the new season, which predicted City will finish six points ahead of the Reds, and the Manchester United legend was asked whether he thought their advantage would be that big - and he replied that it would be bigger.
His earlier comments may have provided a reason for his bold claim, as he identified why the rest of the division should be worried about Guardiola's side.
“They won this game and they beat a strong Liverpool team without Laporte, Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero, the three who were probably their most important players last season,” he told BT Sport.
“That gives you confidence. Otamendi, just two days training, comes in and plays. That shows you the depth of this squad, you need the depth and the quality in order to sustain title challenges and in the other competitions.
“That is the culture of this club now and that is the scary thing for all the other clubs challenging.”
