Man City manager Pep Guardiola claims his team must outlast their title rivals to secure top spot this season.
The Catalan says he has been impressed by both Arsenal and Chelsea, but he knows from experience that the club’s title chances will be defined by their ability to pick up results during the run-in:
“Arsenal are so strong and so solid So I know what we have to do, I know if we drop points it will be so difficult, we have to put in our mindset that it will be difficult but at the same time the Premier League is so long.”
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“I promise you I am the oldest manager in the Premier League and have enough experience to make a long, long run to try to fight to win the Premier League. It is so long. Chelsea impress me more and more every day with Enzo [Maresca], but it’s long.”
“Premier League is so long, many things will happen. We won six Premier Leagues, four or five when we were December, January or February we were behind. The team who wins the Premier League is the team who grows during the months and this is what we try to do. No injuries, it’s so long. But at the same time, if we push, we will be better and push ourselves and control the situations better, the emotions and we will see what happens.”
Man City will have to tighten up defensively
Guardiola‘s team did close the gap on Arsenal to two points with a victory against Fulham on Tuesday night, but they did their very best to throw it away.
They were 5-1 up early in the second half before their opponents managed to get it back to 5-4. The Cityzens have now conceded 16 goals in 14 games; 9 more than Arsenal.
If they are to maintain a title challenge, things will undoubtedly need to improve at the back.
What are Man City’s next 5 league fixtures?
Following the trip to Craven Cottage, the Manchester club will host Sunderland at the Etihad on Saturday. They then travel for a difficult away fixture against Crystal Palace the following weekend.
There are games against West Ham (a) and Nottingham Forest (a) either side of Christmas before they start the New Year with their second match versus Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Read more about the Man City First Team Squad for 2025/26 here