Ex-Liverpool man responds as Man City stars sleep at training ground on Xmas Day

It's now nine losses in 12 games for Pep Guardiola's men who looked well off the pace last time out as they lost 2-1 to Aston Villa.

As the Citizens do everything to ensure they can bounce back the players were forced to stay overnight at their training ground.

And manager Guardiola wanted to ensure they keep their usual routines, despite it being the festive season.

When asked about their plans, he said: "We train today (Tuesday), we train tomorrow (Christmas Day) night, we will stay over here and we are going to play on Boxing Day."

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He added: "Hopefully they want to be here, because it's our job."

Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders joked it was actually probably a nice night for the City stars.

And added they would be in a luxurious setting, despite on the surface it seeming like a miserable setting.

He told talkSPORT: "I kind of imagine all the Man City players gathered around watching the Gavin and Stacey finale last night in their Christmas PJs together.

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"That is normal, you know. It is normal. It sounds bad staying at the training ground. Man City's training ground is like the Hilton."

And Saunders was quick to insist such a move was not unusual for players.

He added: "Even when I played for Liverpool in 1992, we used to have to stay in the hotel Friday night.

"At home games? Yeah, we'd stay in the hotel and Roy Evans and Ronnie Moran would come around and they'd knock your door about half ten, right, two of them, and you'd open the door and they'd pretend they've got anti-inflammatories for you.

"So they'd have tablets, Roy would have red ones and Ronnie would have blue ones. And they'd go red or blue, red or blue, so they'd check your room.

"All they're doing is making sure you're in your room and you're not somewhere else drinking or something."

Asked if he ever sneaked out, particularly at Christmas, he added: "I never ever.

"You look me in the eyes. I never ever drunk after a Thursday, ever. Thursday night, no, seriously, I never done it.

"I was too scared in case it made me play rubbish."

Saunders, meanwhile, is insisting Man City will come good again, but has warned him against comments that English football needs a winter break.

He added:" The cream always comes to the top. The players he's got are too good to keep them down for that long. But going back to the winter break, it annoys me, really. Pep's been brought up with a winter break.

"Just to show I'm not biased, I've had a go at Jurgen Klopp, because people think I'm just not having a go at Liverpool. He used to say it, Avram Grant, remember him? 'Let's have a winter break'.

"You never see him again. Gone. Never seen again. Let's change all the rules in England, which is the best league in the world, by the way.

"And our grandad used to take us to the football on Boxing Day, the festive period, which is brilliant in English football. The fans love it. The players love it. The only people who don't like it are the managers."

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Asked if he found it tough playing over the festive period, Saunders added: "No, I just got used to it. Every Christmas day we trained. We travelled away. It's your job.

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"As a footballer, you're 10 months on, two months off, on full pay. So in the summer, you get paid for sitting, when everyone's sweating at work in an office, you're on a boat somewhere getting full pay. So for the 10 months you're on, which includes Easter holidays, Christmas holidays, we are the entertainment for the public.

"That's why we get paid a fortune, because we play, we are the entertainment on the holidays."