Guardiola mocks Liverpool for failing to match Man City’s 100-point

Pep Guardiola has taken a jab at Premier League leaders Liverpool, highlighting their inability to match Manchester City’s historic 100-point record.

City’s hopes of securing a fifth consecutive league title have crumbled, leaving them 16 points behind Liverpool in a surprising downfall. Meanwhile, Liverpool, currently seven points clear of second-placed Arsenal, are on course for their 20th league crown, which would equal Manchester United’s record.

However, even if Arne Slot’s side clinch the title, they are now mathematically unable to surpass City’s landmark 100-point season from 2017-18, when Guardiola secured the first of his six league triumphs.

Following criticism of City’s faltering campaign after their 3-2 home defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League play-off round first leg, Guardiola fired back with a sharp dig at Liverpool.

“We took all the records in England. Who would do 100 points now in modern football? I’m waiting,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.

“Or four in a row? I’m waiting – with clubs like Bournemouth, Fulham and Wolves that you have to play.

“The standards, we dictated. Have you seen Liverpool this season? They cannot do 100 points already – 99 but not 100.”

While Liverpool may not surpass fifth-placed City’s record mark, Guardiola accepts his team have fallen behind their rivals this season.

“I asked ‘Gundo’ (Ilkay Gundogan) yesterday, ‘two years ago you were here, you were one year in Barcelona and you come back here, did you see changes in the Premier League?’,” said Guardiola, whose team host top four rivals Newcastle on Saturday.

“He said massively, the difference was unbelievable. It’s the truth. The teams are much, much, much better in all departments. People prepare so well.

“We cannot do it for the (injury) problems we’ve had. There are a lot of players, with the amount of minutes they have had, who are so tired, emotionally as well.

“But guys, we deserve to have a bad season. We deserve not to be like we were. They are human beings, it can happen. We weren’t consistent and we haven’t had the players at their best.

“It’s the first time that me and many of the players have lived this position but we have to accept it (and recognise) what happened in the past was not normal.”

Guardiola believes the difference from previous successful seasons is that City are no longer making the most of their dominance of possession.

“I accept when the opponents have the ball, I’m going to suffer,” he said.

“But now we are suffering when we have the ball. It never happened before and, (right) now, I cannot change it. We are suffering because we are human beings.”