Pep Guardiola has joked that Arsenal don’t belong with Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League title race.
The Gunners are chasing their first title in 20 years after falling short and finishing behind City last season. They sat second going into the weekend of fixtures, sitting two points adrift of Liverpool but one ahead of City.
Guardiola’s side are up first, playing away against Crystal Palace in Saturday’s early kick-off and ahead of the match, the City boss spoke to TNT Sports. He was in a playful mood and one of his answers may have provided Mikel Arteta with some ammunition for his team talk for the 5.30pm game against Brighton.
Asked by Joe Cole if it was one of the tightest title races in his managerial career, Guardiola replied: “Good question. In Barcelona it was always Barcelona and Madrid. With Bayern Munich it was Dortmund, so yeah maybe it is the first time with three… ‘What is Arsenal doing here?’ No, welcome.
“So, yeah, it’s three top teams, I would say, so at the end, we arrive at the end with a small margin of difference and we know exactly what we have to do.” Asked if City needed to win all their games to win the title, Guardiola said: “Yeah.”
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Speaking in a more serious setting in his pre-match press conference, Guardiola explained how hard it will be for City to win a sixth title in seven seasons. Asked whether the league takes precedence, with Real Madrid on the horizon in the Champions League next week, he said: “It's always been like that. When we won the treble last season, we arrived in the semi-finals of the Champions League and won the Premier League.
“Honestly, if we were 18 points in front of second in the Premier League, I would have two eyes on Madrid. But it's not the case. We're third, not far away from the top of the Premier League, but if we drop points it will be almost impossible.
Mikel Arteta is trying to guide his side to a first title in 20 years (Getty Images)“So we have to win the game against Palace and after that we will have more time, not for recovery, but to prepare. When we have been fighting for nine or 10 months for the Premier League, why should I be distracted now from this important game against Palace, when the distance is so close?"
Arteta is also under no illusions. “This is the level and it’s been the level in this league for the past six or seven years,” Arteta said before the Brighton game. “The margins are so small, let’s see those numbers at the end of the last game and hopefully if those are maintained, I think we have a good chance. We're still not at the top and we have to transform that into winning and winning and winning, and that’s the only way to have the chance in the last game of the season to do it.”
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