City retained their place at the top of the Premier League despite losing to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on New Year's Day after Manchester United also slumped to a shock defeat to Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford.

After Liverpool's encouraging performance in their 3-1 win against Newcastle at Anfield last Friday, De Jong is aware of the threat from Kenny Dalglish's side.

"Liverpool is going to be another tough game," De Jong told the club website.

"They've just had a boost be getting their captain back - Steven Gerrard is playing again, and they are on a good streak at the moment, so it will be difficult."

"But games against Liverpool are always tough, whether they are at home or away. They always come out of the dressing-room looking to dictate the play, the same as we do."

De Jong says City's confidence has not dropped despite their second defeat in the league this season at Sunderland and has urged his side to recover from the loss.

"We are still top of the table - it would have been nicer to have a three-point difference over United and the rest of the teams, so it's disappointing in that respect," he said.

"But we are the leaders, and we just have to get ourselves back on track in the next game."