Liverpool are currently sitting 10th in the Premier League and, if City were to beat them on Sunday, it would lead to a 16-point gap between the teams, albeit with the Merseysiders having played one less.
In fact, Liverpool’s tally of 10 points from their first eight matches represents their worst start to a league campaign since the 2012/13 season under Brendan Rodgers.
However, Guardiola dismissed the notion that these statistics matter heading into the mouth-watering match.
He said: “A table never plays a team - the game will be dictated by what happens on the pitch, not that we are in front or behind [in table].
“[It’s] always difficult and has been in these years we arrive together. Tough game, we won’t discover anything else that’s special.”
In some quarters, Liverpool are being written off in the Premier League title race this season.
But Guardiola says that talk is premature.
And he stresses that they “always have been and always will be” City’s biggest rivals.
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He added: “I know the quality they have and they know the quality we have.
“If we get this question with 10 games left, I would say Liverpool cannot catch Arsenal. But with the World Cup, anything can happen.
“In the last years we fought for all the titles and were close. We were a little bit better, especially in the Premier League. But nothing changes the opinion I have of them.”
