Riyad Mahrez believes Man City thrive in high-pressure circumstances.
With Liverpool and the reigning champions exchanging punches on a weekly basis, the championship race appears ready to go to the wire once more.
And, as the Algerian winger looks ahead to Monday night’s challenging journey to Crystal Palace, he explains that the more pressure applied to the Blues, the greater the response.
“When there are other teams behind us or in front of us winning games, it makes us more hungry to win our matches,” said Mahrez.
“That’s what we want. We concentrate on ourselves because that’s all we can do – other things, we cannot control.
“I love watching football and if they (Liverpool) lose, it would be a big week for us.
“Part of being a player is living with pressure – we have to have pressure and I wouldn’t be at my best without it.
“It makes you better and it makes you hungrier, so it’s good.”
Mahrez occupies the second position in the scoring charts this season having netted 21 goals for the Cityzens. The Algerian grabbed a brace last weekend as City beat Manchester United 4-1.
The 31-year-old has made just 23 starts for Pep Guardiola’s side in all competitions and on hitting the 21-mark, it means the winger has scored at least a goal after every 107 minutes across Premier League and Champions League this campaign.
