Guardiola won't rest Man City players in UCL ahead of Liverpool match

Pep Guardiola insists he won’t be resting any of his Manchester City players in midweek ahead of Sunday's crucial trip to leaders Liverpool.

"Do you think we can win four titles in one season if we prioritise games?” he said when asked about resting players.

“We're going to play with the best team possible to win at Atalanta and after we go to Anfield.

“Nobody can assure me that if we don't do what we have to do at Atalanta then we are going to make a better performance against Liverpool.

“The best way to face Atalanta is the way we played [against Southampton] and the best way to go to Anfield is to play a good game against Atalanta, who have been fighting with the top clubs in Italy for the last two or three seasons. That is the point.

“They can score four, five six goals every game so we are going to play with what we believe is the best team considering the regeneration, the opponents and the way they play, to make a good performance and qualify for the next stage of the Champions League.”

City, who have won just once at Anfield in the Premier League era, remain six points behind Liverpool at the top after both sides pulled off late victories on Saturday.

Klopp’s side have dropped just two points all season but Guardiola says that doesn’t mean Sunday’s game is a must-win if they are to maintain a title challenge.

"We are going to try but I don't think [we have to win],” he said. “How many centuries have they not lost at Anfield? We will see.

“They beat Aston Villa in the last minutes - so there are a lot of games to play. Many things are going to happen and there are a lot of games to play.”