John Stones’ seven-word plea suggests that Liverpool have their title rivals spooked

Judging by comments made by John Stones in a recent interview, Liverpool are firmly in the minds of their Premier League title rivals.

The Manchester City defender gave an interview to The Times in which he was asked about the prospect of the Reds marking Jurgen Klopp’s final season by winning all four trophies available to them, having already ticked the Carabao Cup off the list.

The England international swiftly replied: “Oh, no. Can’t be letting that happen!”, adding: “Arsenal, Liverpool, the teams that have been pushing us and us pushing them for the trophies, it’s working in our favour. We’ve got to be better. It’s healthy competition.”

If anything, Klopp and Liverpool will take it as a compliment that Stones is so eager not to see us end the season with the quadruple.

City are powerless to try and stop us from winning the Europa League, but could yet meet us in the FA Cup should both teams progress beyond the quarter-finals, and once again they’re in a neck-and-neck Premier League title race against us.

It seems that Pep Guardiola’s side are frightened by the prospect of seeing the Reds end the season with four pieces of silverware, two of which would see us dethrone the Manchester club as holders of those trophies.

Liverpool won’t have to wait much longer for their chance to land a direct hit on Stones and his team, with the league’s top two facing off at Anfield on Sunday week in a game which could go a long way towards determining the outcome of what’s shaping up to be another absorbing title race.