Ilkay Gündogan has said Manchester City's trip to Liverpool on Sunday will be "as tough as it's possible to be" after a run of six games without a win.
City travel to Anfield after throwing away a three-goal lead in 15 minutes against Feyenoord to eventually draw 3-3.It was another set-back after a run of five straight defeats.
Gündogan has refused to play down the difficulty of facing the league leaders on the back of such a miserable run. However, the midfielder said it could offer the chance to boost confidence among the players if they perform well.
"Anfield is always tough, no matter the situation," Gündogan said. "We've struggled in recent years going there. We know Liverpool are a great team full of confidence right now. It's going to be as tough as it is possible to be. But that sums up the situation right now.
"It seems we have to go through this season the toughest way possible. Obviously we've done this ourselves a little bit but hopefully we can get out of that as quickly as possible, especially in such a big game.
"It would give ourselves a boost to perform well and then obviously to get something out of the game."
City have lost their last three league games to slip eight points behind Liverpool in the title race. Defeat at Anfield on Sunday would create an 11-point gap.
Gündogan has admitted that even at this early stage of the season, it could be too big a deficit to claw back.
Asked whether City had to get a positive result against Liverpool this weekend, he said: "To stay in the title race probably yes because 11 points would be a huge gap. It's still early in the season.
"There are still a lot of games to play and a lot of things can happen, not just on our side but at every other team. But obviously we have to look at ourselves and try to do the things we can do better, as quickly as possible.
"We take it, stay humble, head down and try to put in the work in the next few days and prepare as well as possible for a tough game."