Man City will surrender their Premier League crown to Liverpool.

Pep Guardiola has admitted that Manchester City are still ‘miles away’ from Liverpool - and only qualifying for the Champions League will still be a significant achievement.

City have won the past four Premier League titles - but will surrender their crown this season. The Etihad Stadium side have endured a substandard campaign by their own standards and 18 points behind leaders Liverpool.

The Reds could seal the title today if they win at Leicester City and second-placed Arsenal suffer defeat by Ipswich Town. Man City are in a battle to finish in the Champions League qualification places but are fourth after a 2-0 win over Everton.

Guardiola toasted the triumph at Goodison Park, with Nico O’Reilly and Mateo Kovacic scoring late goals, and pointed to the fact that Liverpool and Arsenal could not beat Everton on their own patch this term.

Asked how big the victory was over the Toffees, City manager Guardiola said: "I would say big. We have five, six games left and with the moment they had after [winning against] Nottingham Forest away, [and given that] Liverpool and Arsenal could not win here, it is massively important.

"I've tried to convince the players that qualifying for the Champions League is a huge achievement in this country and in this league. Being in the Champions League is enough, thinking that is not enough for us would be arrogant.

"If you win you have character, if you don't win you don't have character - this is the motto. What these players have done for one decade, I am so grateful for, whatever has happened - this season more than ever, in the toughest period for many reasons especially injuries.

"We were more or less stable, kept going and going for the next time. We are miles away from Liverpool and Arsenal but tonight we sleep fourth. It is in our hands but we have a final on Tuesday, three games at home, two away and hopefully we can achieve this big success to qualify for the Champions League."