Andy Robertson believes Liverpool need to win the Premier League to be on Manchester City’s level.
Jurgen Klopp’s side are aiming to open up a 10-point gap over the reigning champions during Thursday evening’s clash at the Etihad Stadium.
The Reds enjoyed the measure of City on three occasions last season, once in the league and a double in their Champions League quarter-final clash.
But Robertson is aware that only ending Anfield’s 29-year wait for a title will confirm their status as equals to Guardiola’s record-breaking charges.
He said: “We spoke about City last season and I’m sure every other team did.
“They were very hard to beat. Of course we did it here in the league and the Champions League but in the league, not many people could touch them.
“But the thing is, they completed it and they’ve got their winners’ medal and the trophy.
“Just now, we have nothing and that’s why at the end of the season, hopefully we can talk about it.
“Of course we hope that we win it but we know how hard it is and we know two teams, probably even more, are right behind us and causing us all sorts of problems.
“We know they’ll be right on our tails so we keep our feet on the ground and hopefully by then we’ll be celebrating. But we take it game by game.”
April’s last eight showdown at the Etihad saw City needing to overturn a three-goal deficit from their first leg but ultimately fell to a 5-1 aggregate reversal.
Robertson, however, expects Liverpool to encounter a different sort of challenge.
“The difference in the Champions League game is they obviously had to win by four goals or whatever so they had to come out,” he added.
“They only need to win by one on Thursday. Look, they’re a fantastic team, a very experienced team and they’ve been in this position before.
“They’ve won the title. It’s something that we’ve never had. They’re probably more experienced than us in this position but we look forward to it.
“We’re in a good moment just now but we need to be at our best and if we can, we can cause any team problems.”