The China Mail - Man City's De Bruyne expects title race to go to the wire

De Bruyne's double helped City to a crucial 4-1 victory against arch rivals Manchester United on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola's side are six points clear of second placed Liverpool, but the Reds have a game in hand and visit the Etihad Stadium for a seismic showdown with City on April 10.

De Bruyne has no doubt Liverpool will push City all the way to the finish line in a rerun of the 2019 title race, which Guardiola's men won on the last day of the season after reeling off 14 successive victories.

"I'd say it looks similar for the moment. Both teams have been doing so well, but we push each other. We're both great teams," De Bruyne said.

Asked if the Liverpool clash will be decisive, De Bruyne said: "Yes, it could be, but it's so far away, there's a lot of important games in between.

"A lot can change between now and then. We can lose games or they can, so I'm not necessarily watching out now for that game.

"It never stops does it? But it's good. We push each other to be the best version we can be. All we can do as a team and as individuals is try to win every game.

"Hopefully in the end we'll win it, but there's still a long way to go."

City's victory over United, and De Bruyne's star role in it, gave the Belgium international extra reason to look forward to returning home on Sunday evening.

De Bruyne had been hosting visitors over the weekend and several were United fans, sparking good-natured banter between them.

"I had a load of friends come over from Belgium and three were United fans, so they were trying to keep me awake all night, so I wouldn't sleep the night before!" he said.

"Now I can go home and have a good laugh with them. It's banter but I'm obviously very happy."

U.Feng--ThChM