“I had a lot of info…” – Pep Guardiola hails Pepijn Lijnders influence ahead of Liverpool title-decider

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has lauded the impact Pepijn Lijnders has made since joining forces with the Catalan at the Etihad Stadium last summer.

Lijnders helped Liverpool win the Premier League and UEFA Champions League under Jurgen Klopp and left Anfield at the same time as Klopp – in 2024 – before taking up an assistant managerial role under Guardiola at Manchester City last summer.

Guardiola refreshed his coaching staff in the backdrop of his most challenging season at the Etihad Stadium, wherein the Blues recorded a third-place Premier League finish with 71 points, exited the UEFA Champions League at the Round of 16 stage and lost the 2025 FA Cup final to Crystal Palace.

City also witnessed a major revamp of their first-team squad upon the appointment of Hugo Viana as director of football, with senior stars such as Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson, Ilkay Gundogan, Kyle Walker and Scott Carson all allowed to leave last summer.

The eight-time Premier League champions remain in the running in all four competitions but having struggled for form of late, the jury is out on whether City can cut down Arsenal’s nine point gap at the top of the Premier League in the run-in.

Speaking ahead of Sunday evening’s monumental clash with Liverpool, Guardiola was quizzed on what made him recruit former Klopp confidante Lijnders last summer.

“Well, his experience. I had a lot of info from other people about him who had been training or managing with him in Liverpool and I needed to refresh myself first with new people who had incredible knowledge about the game, about the Premier League,” Guardiola said in a press conference on Friday.

“And I loved a lot, many things I liked what they did with Jurgen (Klopp) in Liverpool. And we talked one day, I think we felt connected immediately. Incredible lucky since day one that I started my career as a manager that all the staff and backroom staff, close people with us, with me and Pep (Lijnders) is one of them.”

On what some of the things are that Pep Lijnders has helped with this season, Guardiola added: “Methodology, training sessions, and vision of a part of the game, and the freedom to say, ‘I should do this, we should do that’, and continually talking about what could be better in that way with the players, the other ones, if they play in that system or the other one.

“That is the funny part of our game; imagining what can we do, what is going to happen and confronting with opinions from people that you truly believe; they are incredibly well prepared for that business.”

City must win against Liverpool on Sunday to stay in the title race after Arsenal extended their lead at the top to nine points after securing a comfortable 3-0 win over Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

On whether Lijnders could be of particular help against Liverpool this weekend, Guardiola added: ‘Well of course, but it would be easier if it was Jurgen (Klopp) as the manager there, because he had been with them and Arne (Slot) had not been with him.

“But of course, they play differently than they played in their period with Jurgen and him there. But at the end it remains the quality, come on. They are a top team. They have done many, many things in the summer, and that’s why it is a good team.”

Nothing less than a win will do for the Blues in Merseyside and after returning to winning ways against Newcastle United in midweek to set up a Carabao Cup final date with Arsenal, it is now or never for City to turn the ship around and change their fortunes in the title race.