Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany says title race is wide open before top-of-the-table showdown with Liverpool

City and Liverpool are tied on 19 points at the top of the table, two points ahead of Chelsea, but City captain Kompany does not think it will be a two-horse race at the top this year

Vincent Kompany believes Manchester City will have more rivals in their title challenge than just Liverpool as they prepare to go to Anfield on Sunday.

City and Liverpool are tied on 19 points at the top of the table, two points ahead of Chelsea, but City captain Kompany does not think it will be a two-horse race at the top this year. Even though that is what it has been billed as in some quarters. He especially pointed to the challenge of Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea who were minutes away from beating Liverpool 1-0 on Saturday evening.

“I don't agree with just putting City and Liverpool as title contenders,” Kompany said. “Chelsea have shown so much already this season. Arsenal, Tottenham are coming back. You'd think there'd be a bigger points gap by now but it's not. I think most teams at the top are firing on all cylinders at this moment in time and this makes this league exciting.”

Kompany also warned Liverpool that despite their two wins at Anfield last year, 4-3 in the Premier League and 3-0 in the Champions League, that these games were always decided by “fine margins” between the sides. “If you take all four games of last season, including the home game [City won 5-0], it's a game of small margins,” Kompany said.

“You look at each and every game and there's not of difference terms of how the games happened. One game we were more efficient and scored five, the other game they scored three in 15 minutes. That's how these games seem to go. The margin is so small between both teams and a lot of things happen in a very short period of time. You have to make sure you can control this and be at our best on the day.”

Meanwhile, Manchester City and Merseyside Police have been working together to ensure that there is not a repeat of the unsavoury scenes from City’s last game at Anfield, in the Champions League quarter-final last season. City and the police have been in dialogue since the incident on 4 April, hoping to prevent the a repeat of the same and to ensure that the City players are safe this time.

Merseyside Police superintendent Dave Charnock said on Wednesday afternoon that his force were committed to keeping City’s bus safe on its way to Anfield on Sunday afternoon. "As with any match, we have prepared a comprehensive and appropriate policing operation ahead of Sunday’s game and have liaised with both clubs and their supporter groups,” he said. “This will ensure this game can be enjoyed safely by all as well as minimising any disruption to local residents and the roads, and everyone involved is working hard to ensure there is no repeat of the events that occurred outside Anfield before the Champions League fixture between the clubs in April.”

The City bus will not take the same route to Anfield they travelled in April, along the Arkles way, and they trust that the police’s new plan will protect them this time.