Football news - Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne reveals 'love' of playing at Anfield

City have not come away from a trip to Anfield with a win since 2003, but go in search of a victory that would cut the gap to Jurgen Klopp's men to three points on Sunday.

However, De Bruyne believes that he thrives on the passion and pressure that a trip to Merseyside provides.

"If you are somebody who wants to compete for titles and win, these are the games you want to play," the Belgium international told Sky Sports.

"I like Anfield, I like it a lot. I love people being on you, being noisy, that is what it's all about. I love the passion of football.

"Lately, a lot of new things have been introduced in football, but I still love things how they were in the old days - people shout and get their team forward. That is something that I learned in Germany, because fans are so behind their team.

"The home players probably get a little bit more [from the Anfield atmosphere] but even if it's against you, you are at the top of the world, playing the best level. That is what you want.

"You fight your whole lifetime to be here. That's the appreciation you get for working as a young child and getting here."

City have suffered surprise losses to Wolves and Norwich this season and De Bruyne says these results would be just as culpable for a failure to win the title as a negative one at Anfield.

"You can only talk about the importance of the game after the season is over," he added.

"This game is too early. If it was in April, that would give another incentive to it but even if we win, draw or lose, I would still feel confident because there is still so long.

"If you lose, you know there is going to be a big gap, but we have to take it as it is, compete, and see what happens.

"If nothing changes and we're nine points behind, people will say this was the decider, but we could say the same about the games against Wolves, Norwich and Tottenham."