'They look frightening' - Phil Foden makes Liverpool admission ahead of crunch clash and insists Man City can overcome current 'blip'

City went on a five-game losing streak before squandering a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday. Their dismal domestic results leave the Premier League champions eight points behind leaders Liverpool ahead of the Anfield showdown between the two sides on Sunday.

In contrast, Liverpool are on a six-game winning streak and have failed to win on just two occasions in all competitions this season. They head into the game off the back of a 2-0 win against Real Madrid in the Champions League, and Foden is aware his team face a massive challenge.

"Yeah, they look frightening to be fair," he told The Times. "They’ve gone under the radar a bit because everyone was talking about City and Arsenal but we know how good they are. [Sunday’s match] is going to be a challenge and we’re up for it."

City's dismal form has sparked talk of a crisis at the club under Pep Guardiola. Defeat on Sunday would see City fall 11 points behind their rivals, which Guardiola conceded would likely put his team out of contention for the title.

However, Foden is confident of turning the situation around as he believes the players are mentally strong enough.

"Obviously, we’ve had a blip. We’ve had injuries and niggles," he said. "We can’t make that an excuse but we do know if we had the full team fit and key players, maybe the results would have been different. It’s about just getting over it. I’m pretty sure we’ll be OK once we start picking up the results again."

He added: "It’s just the way we are. When we lose, we have meetings as a team, you know: ‘It’s not right, we need to put things right,’ so it’s just our mentality. I know when I look around the changing room, the mentality is right. Our hunger is still there, which is nice to see after us winning so much. It could easily not be — but the hunger is definitely still there."

Yet to score in the Premier League so far this season, Foden will hope to open his account when City line up against Arne Slot's team.