'I believe in my guys' - Guardiola fearless ahead of Liverpool test

Pep Guardiola insists his Manchester City team will not travel to Liverpool in trepidation despite their poor recent record at Anfield.

The Premier League champions have lost on their last four visits to the red half of Merseyside, including twice during the 2017-18 campaign.

Liverpool inflicted upon City their first league defeat of the last campaign in a 4-3 thriller before claiming a 3-0 success in the Champions League quarter-final first leg in April.

Though the draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge ended Liverpool's 100% record this season, both sides have unbeaten streaks to protect when they clash next Sunday.

"I believe too much in that team, in those guys," said Guardiola

"I know how they fight. Go to Anfield, win, lose, whatever. 

"It's a long time ago Man City was able to win at Anfield. What I want to see is the team alive, and we are alive.

"If they beat us three times, they are a good side. 

"They lost the first game in the Carabao Cup [against Chelsea last week] but at Anfield they score a lot of goals, they don't concede.

"Now it's Hoffenheim [on Tuesday in the Champions League], and after that we are going to prepare [for Liverpool], and after that we're going to prepare for Burnley. 

"At the end, we're going to see what happened at the end of the season."

Two Premier League wins in 2016 over City means Liverpool have prevailed in the last four home games against Guardiola's men, but next weekend's game could prove to be pivotal in terms of the destination of the title.

Liverpool are widely accepted to be City's closest challengers for the championship and have an opportunity to put daylight between themselves and the reigning champions ahead of the upcoming international break.