PEP GUARDIOLA warned his Manchester City stars: Don’t let any Anfield ref errors KO our title dream.
Guardiola’s Premier League champs have won just twice at Liverpool since 1981 and have been on the wrong end of a string of questionable calls.
Victory against Liverpool this afternoon will send City back to the top of the table.
And Etihad chief Guardiola said: “You can’t control what happens in the stadium with the refs. All we can do is perform better.
“We have to overcome absolutely everything, otherwise it will be difficult to win there on Sunday.
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“All I can handle is our performance — who we are and what we are as a team.
"That’s all I can deal with. If it happens, it happens, so we will see.”
Last season, a Phil Foden effort was ruled out when Erling Haaland was controversially pulled up for a foul in a game City lost 1-0.
And in 2019, in Liverpool’s title-winning season, Fabinho scored seconds after Trent Alexander-Arnold escaped a handball in his own box.
Referee Michael Oliver, who has Stuart Attwell on VAR duties today, took charge of that game, which ended with a furious Guardiola sarcastically saying “thank you very much” to him after the final whistle.
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Other controversies include a Mo Salah strike from a seemingly offside position.
But it was Foden’s disallowed goal last term that was on Guardiola’s mind when he added: “It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last.
“All we have to do is perform better.
"For big achievements, chasing four titles in a row — that no team has done ever — it’s the challenge we have to face.
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“I’m pretty sure we will perform well and, whatever happens, we have many games to play.”
