Sterling becomes the THIRD player to score 100 goals under Guardiola after Messi

Raheem Sterling has joined elite company after becoming just the third player, after Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero, to have scored at least 100 goals under Pep Guardiola.

The 26-year-old reached the milestone in Manchester City's emphatic 4-1 win over Liverpool at Anfield after heading home from virtually on the goalline following Alisson's second major blunder of the contest.

Sterling's first under the Spaniard came when he scored the opener in a 3-1 victory over West Ham at the Etihad in August 2016, and since then he has gone on to become one of the most prolific finishers in Europe, having notched up 90 goals for the Premier League giants since the start of the 2017-18 season.

Aguero joined the 100 club after scoring his first of a double against Brighton in August 2019 and the Argentine has since gone on to bag 20 more despite significant spells on the sidelines.

Naturally, Messi was the first to reach a century of goals under Guardiola and is in a league of his own after he was turned into arguably the most complete player of all time.

The Messi-Guardiola partnership spanned just four years, but saw Barcelona's highest-ever goalscorer net a jaw-dropping 211 goals, including 73 in Guardiola's final season at the club in 2011-12.

If Sterling wants to emulate Messi's achievement, he needs to stick around at the Etihad for a while.

On a day when City cemented themselves at the Premier League summit, more individual and team records were equalled, broken or extended.

Guardiola's team have now joined Preston and Arsenal to have become the only English top-flight sides to win 14 games on the bounce.

Phil Foden also became the youngest opponent to score and assist in the same Premier League game at Anfield, while Ilkay Gundogan's reinvention as a goalscoring midfielder continues as the German added two more goals to his tally on Sunday afternoon to make it seven league strikes in 2021, three more than any other player.

City's chance to make it a record-breaking 15th win in a row will come on Saturday when they host Tottenham. Guardiola's men are looking an unstoppable force at the moment.