Premier League title race: Liverpool & Man City must win remaining games, say managers

Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City's Pep Guardiola both believe their sides must win all their remaining games to win the Premier League after the teams matched each other again with victories on Sunday.

City beat Crystal Palace 3-1 to retake top spot before the Reds saw off Chelsea 2-0 to leapfrog their rivals.

"If we just drop one or two points we won't be champions," said Guardiola.

"We expect them to win all their games." Reds boss Klopp added.

"We just need to get as many points as possible and if we're champions then great, but if not it is still a really good football team."

City have a game in hand over Liverpool and if they win their remaining five fixtures they will retain their title. However, they have arguably a tougher run-in with matches against Tottenham and Manchester United to come.

Klopp, who has yet to win a trophy with the Reds since becoming manager in 2015, told BBC Radio 5 Live: "The first question in the pre-match team meeting was, 'what is the City score?'. I knew it was 1-0, they said they had no idea but everybody knew.

"But we are human beings, one ear and one eye. It has no influence on us. If they had lost today and we go into the game and think like this then it doesn't help."

The German added: "What a team, what a stadium, what an atmosphere. I'm so thankful I can be a part of this, it's great. It's just outstanding, very overwhelming at times."

The Reds had found it difficult against a Chelsea side who sat deep until Sadio Mane made the breakthrough in the 51st minute, before fellow forward Mohamed Salah scored a stunning second from 25 yards.

Asked whether winning their remaining four games would be enough to be champions, Egyptian Salah told Sky Sports: "In my opinion, yes. We just need to focus on our game and we hope that City will lose points."

The Premier League lead has now changed hands 25 times this season - the second highest number in a season since World War Two.

'The title race is unpredictable,' says Guardiola

Guardiola's side dominated Palace for much of the contest at Selhurst Park, with goals from Raheem Sterling giving them a 2-0 lead. Luka Milivojevic's late free-kick made it a nervy last 10 minutes for the visitors before substitute Gabriel Jesus ensured victory with a 90th-minute strike.

The former Barcelona manager added: "We have played with incredible personality in the last two or three months - for the last month we've known that if we drop points it will be more difficult if not impossible to win the title.

"Of course, Liverpool or us could drop points when you don't expect, and football is unpredictable in that sense.

"But we don't have any complaints - we have taken 183 points in two seasons and still have five games left. Those are incredible numbers and show how consistent we are."