Manchester City skipper Vincent Kompany insists that the result from the upcoming game with Liverpool will have very little effect on how the Premier League table will look like at the end of the season. His side will aim to end the league leader's unbeaten run in the ongoing league campaign and simultaneously close down the seven-point gap to four in Thursday night's game.
Manchester City, despite starting strong at the beginning of the season, now faces an uphill task to defend its Premier League title after Chelsea ended its unbeaten run before surprisingly losing to Crystal Palace and Leicester City in succession.
Ahead of the game with Liverpool, head coach of the club Pep Guardiola iterated that it might be impossible for Manchester City to chase down Liverpool for the league title should his men fail to get a favorable result at Etihad on Thursday. A win for Jurgen Klopp's men will reinstate the 10 points difference which existed before City's win over Southampton.
Nonetheless, Kompany insists that it is still early days yet regardless Liverpool being branded as favorites. The Manchester City captain said: "I am not interested in the outcome just yet. I've been long enough in the game to know how important this game is but at the same time know this is not the all-defining game, as much as people want to put it that way.
"So many things can happen. Who would have thought we would have three difficult games in December? There is nothing to say that with circumstances, injuries and everything, that can't happen to any team in this league.
"Therefore this game, as much as we want to and need to win it, it is not the all-defining game. If we play how we can then I will feel very comfortable despite the result, whatever it is, to go into every other competition and try to win it," Kompany added.
"Even if we don't win this game we will be going for so many titles this season. That is the most important for our team. Just to get back to who we are. "If another team is better than you, fair play, shake their hands and be happy for them if they deserve it.
"If not, the biggest regret would be to not achieve our standards. If we go back to our standards everything is wide open for us."
Early team news ahead of Thursday's epic clash suggests that playmaker Kevin De Bruyne is a major doubt for Manchester City. Fabian Delph remains out of the encounter with suspension while Benjamin Mendy is still recuperating an injury.
On the other hand, Liverpool chances could be boosted with the return of James Milner though Joe Gomez and Joel Matip still remain sidelined.
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