Former Liverpool star Jason McAteer has conceded that Pep Guardiola’s mind games are brilliant, but insists the Reds must shrug them off.

Manchester City have closed the gap on Liverpool at the summit of the league table to just three points after the Reds were held to a draw at West Ham on Monday.




The defending champions have a golden opportunity to return to the top of the table on goal difference, if they manage to secure maximum points against Everton on Wednesday.

And McAteer feels that Guardiola’s mind games in the title race have been superb, after the Spaniard referred to Liverpool as the best team in Europe in recent press conferences.
 


The former Reds midfielder also insisted that Liverpool must dismiss the comments and use them as an incentive to go on and clinch the league title at the end of the season.

“Look at Guardiola, his mind games are brilliant”, McAteer told LFC TV after the West Ham draw.
 

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“He's telling people in press conferences that Liverpool are the best team in the world, best in Europe.

“He's just feeding little bits – they've got to try and dismiss it and maybe use it as an incentive to go on and win the league.”

Liverpool have now dropped four points from their last two games in the Premier League and have been pegged back in the title race in recent weeks.

The Reds opted not to add to their squad in the transfer window, but did offload several players, including Dominic Solanke and Nathaniel Clyne.