Pep Guardiola has conceded that it will be difficult to catch an "incredibly strong" Liverpool, but hopes that Leicester can do his side a favour when they face the Reds on Boxing Day.
Liverpool currently sit eleven points clear of Manchester City, who beat Leicester 3-1 in their last outing, and the European champions also have a game in hand over their title rivals.
Despite City having lifted the Premier League trophy for two consecutive years, including breaking the record for the highest points tally in a single season, Guardiola thinks it is unlikely that the Sky Blues will catch up with Liverpool.
As quoted by The Mirror, Guardiola said: "
"It’s unrealistic right now. We have to try to win our games, secure Champions League for next season and then you never know, no? If they drop a couple of games, and we win and win, I don’t know."
He added: "When one team lose one game in the last 53 or 54, I’m not optimistic that they are going to lose four or five in ten or eleven games because they are incredibly strong."
Liverpool's next league match is against Leicester, who currently sit in second place but ten points off the league leaders. However, Guardiola is hopeful that the Foxes can do him a favour.
Speaking via the Leicester Mercury, Guardiola quipped: "Hopefully Leicester will have a good performance against Liverpool in the next game but before that we’ve got to think about an extremely tough game at Wolves."
Manchester City face Wolves on 27 December, before taking on Sheffield United only two days later. Meanwhile, Liverpool follow up that Leicester clash with a home game against Wolves at Anfield.
Whatever happens, a hectic festive fixture list is likely to be play it's part at some point - it may just be a question of who blinks first.
Source : 90min