Thursday 7 November 2019 13:45, UK
The pressure in the Premier League title race is "massively in Manchester City's favour" following Liverpool's recent run, says Danny Mills.
City returned to the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 win at Everton on Wednesday night, having trailed Liverpool by 10 points barely a month ago.
Jurgen Klopp's side do have a game in hand, but Mills told The Debate City's return to the summit will heap the pressure on their title rivals, who have dropped more points in their last five games than in the previous 20.
He said: "Liverpool have had a bit of a blip, I think that's all it is at the moment. But the pressure has swung massively in Man City's favour .
"Liverpool had a nine-point lead not so long ago, that's gone. For City to go ahead, even when they've lost recently, the likes of the Newcastle game, now the pressure is all on Liverpool.
"City have been there, they've done it, they've won the league several times in the last few years, Liverpool are approaching 30 years since they last won the title - it's the last little hurdle to finally get it. Can they do it?
"It's maybe a bit of belief, the manager's done it in Germany but not too many of these players have. There's one or two nerves creeping in now, but Pep's City just play.
"They are bothered about results, but he says play this way no matter what, and it brings results ultimately. Liverpool don't have that luxury."
Former Scotland international and Celtic manager Gordon Strachan said Klopp's approach would be the most important thing in the remainder of the season, to ensure Liverpool's players buy into his methods to get them over the line.
He said: "The tactics aren't going to change too much, the philosophy isn't going to change too much. After a couple of draws, everyone's looking at the manager - the media, pundits but especially the players.
"They need someone to look at who says, 'this is alright'. Everyone does it in different ways.
"As players, it's difficult to deal with it, it's better like when I was at Aberdeen, we lost a couple of games and it looked like we were out, but then we went back in there again with four games to go.
"It's just character to stay in there and hang in there. I think it's the manager at this time thinking about how he's dealing with it, making sure the players come in and say 'I'm glad I'm with him'."
