Liverpool boss sends Pep Guardiola and Man City title warning ahead of Arsenal clash

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has sent a title race warning to Manchester City ahead of their clash with Arsenal, claiming they will make it as difficult as possible for their rivals to retain the title.

This weekend, Klopp's side travel to the Emirates Stadium to take on Mikel Arteta's side who have bounced back from a poor run of form with back-to-back wins over Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest. The two sides faced off in the league and the FA Cup within a fortnight over Christmas as a draw at Anfield was followed up by a 2-0 away win for Liverpool in the cup - but this game promises to be a wholly different affair.

Manchester City, too, are rediscovering their form after their 3-1 win against Burnley this week which made it eight wins on the bounce since drawing with Palace on December 23. Despite the notion that City have underwhelmed this season, it was something which Klopp could only laugh at as the idea of City's bad season leaving them just two points behind the leaders (if they win their game in hand) is simply a testament to the quality and the threat they possess.

"I think what we've learned over the years is that if you want to be around City then you have to win all of your games, because they do! This is the time where City are dominating, that's how it is. They would probably not consider themselves to be playing their very best season but they are where they are; we play a very good season and we are just two points ahead and they play a 'mixed' season are only two points behind - it's really interesting.

"We just have try to play the best season we can play, we want to beat them. There are so many games to come, you can lose all of these games but you can win all of those games, you can lose key players in the absolute wrong moment - we can't give you the answers because we just don’t know [what will happen]. We will try to make it as hard as possible for whoever wants to finish this season above us." Guardiola laid down his own title claim following his side's win over Burnley, as he complimented his two title rivals, but assured fans that his side will be there challenging at the end of the season. "When you see Liverpool, every game they are better than the opponent. You can lose games but they are better. I know how strong they are but still we are there."

Klopp's farewell season would certainly not be complete without a toe-to-toe battle to the very end for the league title with his greatest adversary in Guardiola and this weekend stands as one of those games where they can lay down a crucial marker on what is a developing title race between two great sides once again.