TITLE-RACE SPECIAL

REPORT AND ANALYSIS

RAHEEM STERLING is a leader. I have never seen him as angry as he was against Tottenham. It was obvious he was still hurting from the Champions League defeat in the week. He cares. He fights. He shows desire. Where he gets all that energy from after the World Cup and playing basically every game for Manchester City, I do not know. He is remarkable.

Lesser teams would have crumbled after the huge disappointment of Wednesday night. But I believe City have too many big players in their squad, such as Vincent Kompany, Fernandinho and Sterling, to let that happen. Sterling is one of those leaders now.

The i ntensity from City was pretty special. They looked like they were in beast mode and really had the bit between their teeth. That defeat by Spurs gave them something to feed off and they wanted revenge.

I have been involved in something similar when we [Tottenham] got knocked out of the Champions League quarter- finals by Real Madrid in 2011. It was very different from the manner in which City were beaten but it is still the most difficult pill to swallow. We were chasing the top four then.

You come in the next day, and the mood is sombre. People will try to gee you up but everyone is upset.

The day after that, though, it would have changed. Pep Guardiola would have City back into the right frame of mind and we saw it yesterday. They came out with the great attitude of a team that is designed to win.

LIVERPOOL and Manchester City dominate the six-man shortlist for the Professional Footballers’ Association Player-of-the-Year award — with Virgil van Dijk and Raheem Sterling the front-runners.

Centre-back Van Dijk joins Reds team-mate Sadio Mane on the list, while Sterling is included alongside fellow City players Sergio Aguero and Bernardo Silva.

Chelsea’s Eden Hazard completes the nominees, with the winner announced next Sunday.

I think the challenge from Liverpool has helped prompt t hat urgency in City as well. This season has been so intense for them, there has been no let-up. That heightens the sense of importance in every minute.

I thought Spurs played really well too. It would have been difficult for them. After all their celebrations in the week and travelling back to the Etihad, it can be tough to raise yourself again.

But they did themselves justice. They missed some chances. As much as I have admiration for City, I have the same for Spurs as well.

City have only one tough game left — United on Wednesday. If they win that, they will go on to win the title.

It is a massive concern for Guardiola that Kevin De Bruyne has been ruled out for the Manchester derby and I was surprised Pep played him yesterday. I don’t know whether it was through desperation to win but if he had any doubts about De Bruyne’s fitness he should have gone with David Silva and Fernandinho alongside Foden.

The treble is still on and while City have enough without De Bruyne, with him they have the ability to do something special.

Amid the drama of Wednesday night, they came very close to it.