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Guardiola: Man City will attack Liverpool during first leg

Shai Khullar -

Pep Guardiola insists he will not ask his side to abandon their attacking principles when they meet Liverpool in the on Wednesday.

was the scene of City's only defeat this season back in January, when Jurgen Klopp's side earned a thrilling 4-3 victory after taking advantage of a poor second-half spell for the visitors.

However, Guardiola has no plans to tell his players to adopt a more cautious approach in the first leg of their quarter-final , although he says he is not "so arrogant" that he is not wary of Liverpool's attacking threat.

He told reporters: "If I said to my players that we are going to do something different, to change how we play, they would look at me and think, 'This guy is scared.' They would say, 'The manager doesn't trust himself.'

"Of course, I consider what is the value from Liverpool, I'm concerned about what they do, I'm not so arrogant to think it doesn't matter what they do. But we're not going to defend 90 minutes and play one counter-attack. Why should we change when it has been going well so far?

"I know the way we play is perfect for Liverpool. They attack the space like no other team in the world. We're going to try to do something but I feel the best way to try to is what we've done while we've been together."

Guardiola was full of praise for , who has scored 37 goals in all competitions in his debut season under Jurgen Klopp.

"He did really well in Rome. He was amazing," said Guardiola. "This season, it's perfect for him. Jurgen is a master to buy players for what he really needs.

"They punish your mistakes because they are so fast, so direct. It's good, a good challenge for us.

"We cannot deny that both teams try to play. We're the teams to score the most goals in the Premier League this season, by far. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a good game."

Guardiola, though, does not expect the Anfield atmosphere to prove any more difficult to cope with than the other major venues across the continent.

"The atmosphere is tough but if you go to , the atmosphere is [tough] as well, same as Madrid," he added. "I think the big challenge is trying to play the way you want with your team."