Manchester City ‘are going to do the guard of honour’ when they host Liverpool, says manager Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Manchester City will give newly crowned Premier League champions Liverpool a guard of honour when the teams meet at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday.

Liverpool ended their 30-year wait for a top-flight title when last season’s champions City were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea in mid-week, handing the Merseyside club an unassailable 23-point lead at the top of the table.

Liverpool’s first match since being confirmed as champions is at City’s stadium and Guardiola said his players would pay tribute to Jurgen Klopp’s title-winning side.

“We are going to do the guard of honour of course,” the City boss said. “We will greet Liverpool, when they come to our house, in an incredible way. We are going to do it because they deserve it.”

The 49-year-old added that he was already looking forward to helping City come back stronger next season.

“In sport you have to live in the future,” Guardiola said.

“Never can you have one eye on what you have done. Never forget that we are an incredible club and organisation and what you have to do is learn.

“I think we know the reason why we suffered this season and we are going to try to solve it for next season.”