Pep Guardiola and Rodri believe that Jürgen Klopp still has the advantage in the Premier League title race for Liverpool.

In the Premier League, Man City defeated Newcastle 3-2 with a big contribution from Rodri. Liverpool now leads Pep Guardiola’s team in the standings by just two points.

Darwin Núñez’s brace off the bench helped Liverpool overcome a goal deficit earlier this season to defeat Newcastle United 2-1, even though they were reduced to 10 men for over two-thirds of the match. After a summer of transition, it was a turnaround and a result that proved Jürgen Klopp’s team was once again a real force.

Inspired by Kevin De Bruyne’s goal and assist from the sidelines, Manchester City has now successfully achieved its own comeback victory on the same pitch. However, it speaks more about the two championship rivals than it does about Newcastle.

That outcome doesn’t seem as noteworthy as it should because of the current winning streak Eddie Howe’s club has after losing to Liverpool, which has resulted in 10 Premier League losses so far this season. Newcastle, like it showed against Manchester City, can cause plenty of teams a headache, even if Pep Guardiola’s side still triumphed.

But even with the win, it was evident once more that Manchester City struggles with handling changes in leadership. Rodri plays near the base of midfield, but the Etihad team has been caught off guard in that way multiple times this season. Anthony Gordon is capable of posing a threat to anybody, as he demonstrated here.

At St. James’ Park, Gordon and Alexander Isak proved to be too much for Manchester City’s defence to handle, as both players scored goals after Bernardo Silva had opened the score. Although not every club has players with that calibre in the closing third, teams can take advantage of this pattern to undermine Guardiola.

For teams vying for the championship, giving up twice in a single game is not acceptable, but Tottenham, Chelsea, Michael Olise, and Crystal Palace all triumphed over Manchester City in this fashion. Joško Gvardiol has not yet demonstrated why Manchester City paid $98 million (£77 million/€90 million) to get him, and there are opportunities for the bold to take advantage of.

The defence behind them, this time without Ederson because he left the game early due to injury, has now conceded two or more goals on four different occasions in the Premier League this season. Of course, Erling Haaland and De Bruyne are still recovering from their respective injuries. Liverpool had accomplished this three times, but only in the Spurs game did VAR truly turn the tide of play.

Clearly, there is a long way to go in the Premier League title race and there could be many more twists and turns. Manchester City showed here that it is not going anywhere and that will be a surprise to no one. There are 18 more games each for Liverpool and the Cityzens to play — but it is clear that they see one another as their biggest threat.

“In my opinion, Liverpool is our true opponent because they have a winning record,” Rodri stated before to this weekend on Manchester City’s official YouTube channel. “Arsenal showed the level last year they can do and this year they have the experience they didn’t have last time.”

Rodri is obviously thinking about Liverpool, and his manager seems to agree.”We have a big rival in the Premier League,” Guardiola stated last week (via Manchester World). “Liverpool is back. Arsenal and Tottenham are vital teams to be there as well. But we also realise that it will be challenging if we lose a lot of points.”

There was still hope in the defensive openings, even if Manchester City did not lose further ground to Newcastle. After 20 games played, the difference between the Reds and the team in the Premier League is now just two points. Even though Liverpool presently leads by just two points, there is still a long way to go and they should be able to contend all the way.