"Every stadium wants me sacked": Guardiola and Slot react to Liverpool's win over Manchester City

Liverpool dominated Manchester City 2-0 in the Premier League’s marquee match of round 13.

• "Merseysiders were better at everything": experts react to Liverpool's victory over Manchester City

After another defeat, City manager Pep Guardiola pointed to a lack of preseason preparation and injuries while addressing chants from Anfield calling for his dismissal.

“We didn’t have a preseason, and then the injuries piled up, but we know this, and we have to deal with these challenges. We tried to fight, but we didn’t create enough chances.

I can’t forget the players I have. I sit here as their coach and defend what we’ve achieved in the past. I’m immensely proud of my six Premier League titles, all thanks to my players. Now, more than ever, I want to be with them, to support and embrace them.

We need to change the results, and when the time is right, we’ll make the necessary decisions. I want to bring the team back, to bring my players back to their previous level. This is where we start our reset. I feel it. I trust my players to handle this situation, and we’ll see what happens by the end of the season.

Every stadium wants me sacked — it started in Brighton! Maybe they’re right, given our recent results. I didn’t expect it at Anfield. They started singing it not at 1-0 but at 2-0. Maybe they should have sung it earlier. I didn’t expect it from Liverpool fans, but it’s part of the game, and I completely understand. We’ve had incredible battles together. I respect them. Congratulations to Liverpool.”

Liverpool’s manager Arne Slot hailed his team’s performance as nearly perfect.

“Yes, it was almost a perfect match. If you look at the speed of our play, I think it was spot on. The missed chances made it a bit tense toward the end. But perhaps that’s good for these kinds of matches—it should be like that. Still, it would’ve been better to score the second goal earlier.

If you want to beat Man City, you need to be flawless in every part of the game. We were close to perfection. That’s the only way to defeat them.

We always press high, but they’re so good at building play. It takes a lot of work. Our players had tremendous energy, and beyond that, the fans today were fantastic.

I don’t think anyone, including me, could have predicted such a start. I knew Jurgen Klopp left the team in good shape. But still, this is an amazing result.”

Recall: Liverpool now leads the Premier League with a nine-point gap over Arsenal and Chelsea. Manchester City, 11 points behind the leaders, has lost four consecutive league matches.