Roy Hodgson has predicted Pep Guardiola will 'never speak' to him again should Watford secure three points against the odds away to Manchester City tomorrow afternoon.
Liverpool will be hoping for a favour from their former boss, though the Hornets will not have been backed by many to achieve a positive result at the Etihad Stadium. Currently seven points adrift of Everton, who have played a game less, Watford are running out of time to save their season with each game that passes by.
One statistic that will do little to raise hopes of an unlikely victory being secured at the home of the Sky Blues is the visitors' 14-game losing streak against the reigning Premier League champions, who will require no extra motivation to secure a win with the Reds breathing down their neck.
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Commenting on this poor record against the Citizens, Hodgson said: “It wouldn’t be a statistic I knew about, I do now but I shall not be using it because it would not in any way motivate the players.
“We are unfortunate in the sense there could have been a time where you go to Man City and they are in between fixtures, they have a Champions League game coming up and they have already sewn the league up, so they have no worries in that respect and you go up there and they are in party mood. Now of course we will face a deadly serious Man City, who if they don’t beat us to get the three points, it will be a massive blow."
One small salvation for Liverpool fans ahead of this fixture is that Hodgson has previously caused an upset away to City when in charge of Crystal Palace during the 2018/19 season. An Andros Townsend screamer helped the Eagles on their way to a 3-2 triumph, handing the Reds a significant boost in the title race.
Jurgen Klopp will be hoping for a similar favour on Saturday afternoon, which could result in Guardiola giving his opposite number the cold shoulder should a Palace repeat be witnessed. Explaining how the City boss reacted to this previous Etihad win, Hodgson told reporters: "Pep didn’t speak to me for a long while after Palace managed to steal a win up there and if we get a win this time, he will probably never speak to me again!
"What we’re going to do is try to make ourselves unpopular. If we want to make ourselves popular with Pep, the City crowd and everyone else, all we do is go hell for leather to try to win the game and match them at their own game.
“At least 99 percent of people, certainly those who work in football, know that is a recipe for disaster. We need to give their play the respect it deserves and to make certain we make life as difficult for them as we possibly can.”
