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Gini Wijnaldum has warned Manchester City that they will be entering a “fortress” on New Year's Eve as Liverpool look to land a blow in the Premier League title race.

The Dutch midfielder believes the Reds' 4-1 thrashing of Stoke City was the perfect preparation for the visit of Pep Guardiola's men.

Victory extended Liverpool's unbeaten home record to 23 matches and Wijnaldum says their attacking brand of football is striking fear into opponents.

With Jurgen Klopp 's second-placed side sitting a point clear of City, the final chapter of 2016 is a crunch clash for both clubs as they look to step up their pursuit of leaders Chelsea.

“I think Anfield is a fortress,” Wijnaldum said.

“The way we are playing and the way we are scoring goals in the home games, I think it will scare opponents.

“What I see right now is that we have a lot of confidence. We learn quickly and adapt to situations in games.

“We conceded the first goal against Stoke but from that moment we were still focused. We knew we could score goals.

“It's always good to win before a big game because you go into it with more confidence.”

Liverpool have plundered 45 Premier League goals already this season – the highest tally in the top-flight and more than either Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Wijnaldum believes the Reds' biggest strength is that they have an array of matchwinners. The goals have been shared around with Sadio Mane leading the way with eight.

“I played in a team at PSV who also played with a lot of attacking players but this is the Premier League and this team is better,” Wijnaldum said.

“45 league goals is a lot but we have a lot of players who can score goals and win games for us.

“That's a good thing because if it depends on one person, it can be a problem because if that person doesn't score, you will not win games.

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“City also have a good attack and good players on the bench who can come on and score goals.

“I don't think there is a big difference between the teams. We have to play with the players we have and I'm happy with that because we have a great squad.”

City's winless streak at Anfield stretches back to 2003 but they will be boosted by the return from suspension of striker Sergio Aguero, who has served his four-match ban.

With both teams certain to adopt an ambitious approach, Wijnaldum admits it's got the makings of a classic.

The stakes are high but the £25million man says it's too early to suggest that the losers will have too much ground to make up in the title race.

“It's two teams that want to attack and score goals so it's going to be an interesting game,” he added.

“Of course Aguero is a wonderful player. He can win the game on his own for Manchester City so he's one of the threats we have to deal with.

“But it's not only Aguero, you also have to stop (Kevin) De Bruyne, (David) Silva, (Raheem) Sterling... you can go on.”

“We both have players who can win games for their team. They have to look at our players and we have to look at theirs.

“The season is long. You can't control other things and other games will come after Manchester City.

"Chelsea might come into a bad situation and drop points. They may not, you never know. We have to keep going."