Kyle Walker has told Manchester City to expect to be ‘walked over’ by Liverpool should they repeat their dire performance against Tottenham Hotspur.
City are left licking their wounds after suffering a third successive Premier League loss – and fifth in all competitions. The current champions were thrashed 4-0 by Spurs at the Etihad Stadium, which leaves them five points adrift of leaders Liverpool. That gap will become eight points should the Reds prove triumphant when they face Southampton.
And on Sunday week, Liverpool will welcome City to Anfield. If Arne Slot’s prevail, they will move 11 points ahead of Pep Guardiola’s side after just 13 fixtures this season – and the title will very much be the Reds’ to throw away.
City’s recent results have come as a shock to all. Captain Walker insists that the squad have to keep fighting and a victory over Feyenoord in the Champions League before making the short trip to Merseyside can help restore confidence.
Speaking to Sky Sports (via BBC Sport) Walker said: “It’s hard to stand here and speak about it when I haven’t properly digested it yet. I’ve stood here when we won titles so I’ll stand here for defeats too.”This is the most frustrating thing as a defender. I don’t care about scoring goals, I’m bothered about clean sheets and we’re not doing that. You have to go back to the basics and get a clean sheet. If we concede four goals at home we have to score five. It’s not just the back four, five or six – it’s all 11 players on the pitch.
“I wouldn’t say we’ve lost confidence together. I’ve spent eight years with this group. You lose confidence as a team but we have to remember what we’ve achieved together. What we’ve achieved in the past means nothing, it’s history. We have one team above us doing really well. We’ll keep fighting to the end as we always do. The best way to turn this round is on Tuesday. Hopefully the mojo comes back and we see the normal City from the past eight seasons. Your powers don’t just go. We know our qualities and weaknesses. You get a win, you get your confidence and we’re back to how we used to feel.”
“It’s [Liverpool] a great game to turn it around and take three points from the team who sit above you. But we can’t put in a performance like that or we’ll get walked over. We have a Champions League game to prepare for that massive game on Sunday and keep within touching distance of Liverpool.”
