Liverpool attacker Xherdan Shaqiri insists their struggles this season is simply the cycle of football.

Against Manchester City today, Shaqiri and Liverpool know that if they lose, it is likely to mark the end of their attempt to remain champions. They are already 25 points worse off than they were at this stage last season.

"That is football, my friend," Shaqiri told the Daily Mail. "We are like normal people who have ups and downs. That's normal. We are not robots who can always be on 200 per cent. The teams in the Premier League are good, even the small teams are difficult to play. The top teams are not always good. It's not just us.

"Maybe we have had a few games where we were not so good. There have been a lot of top teams this season who have not been on top form but we are still there and in the top three or four so we cannot complain it's so bad. I see it differently to people from outside.

"We are one of the best teams in the Premier League and the world. We are normal people and not robots, so we have weak moments sometimes when we are not so good and other teams are getting better all the time and that's also a normal thing in life.

"We are in the best league in the world and this season you can see that everybody can beat everybody. It's going to be an interesting season. The league title is still open. It's going to be special in this way."