Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said watching his side going toe-to-toe with Premier League leaders Manchester City in their exhilarating 2-2 draw on Sunday was like watching two heavyweight boxers going at it.

Liverpool trailed City by 14 points in mid January but a run of 10 successive victories meant that had they won at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, they would have leapfrogged Pep Guardiola’s side to the top of the standings.

However, a draw was the best the visitors could muster in Manchester, as they twice trailed the champions, in a contest Klopp felt neither side gave an inch in.

“The concentration levels in these games are incredible, because it is like watching two boxing heavyweights,” Klopp said. “You put your hands down you get a knock in your face and you have to get up.

“I liked a lot when we controlled the game and we caused them more problems than ever before. Of course I would have loved to do it more often. We had 15 minutes of control then they got momentum back. The game went like this throughout.”

‘Missed opportunity’

Guardiola said his side missed an opportunity to crush Liverpool’s title dreams. “It was a fantastic game because both teams tried to win,” Guardiola said. “I feel we have missed an opportunity. We have left them alive (in the title race).

“We performed incredibly well. We could not win but that is football. Every week we are here in the Premier League, we know what they (Liverpool) do every single day but we conceded few chances and created a lot against them. Just missing was the last action.”

The City boss singled out Kevin De Bruyne for special praise after the midfielder again got on the scoresheet at the Etihad, firing City into an early lead.