Not Saka or Martinelli – “He’s a machine player”; Pep Guardiola mentions the Arsenal star that will disturb Man city defense on Wednesday after what he saw against Southampton
Pep Guardiola believes Arsenal will end the season as champions if Manchester City lose this weekend.
City host relegation-threatened Leicester at the Etihad on Saturday, while Arsenal travel to face West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday.
Premier League leaders Arsenal are six points clear of City, having played one game more, and Guardiola fears his team will be unable to catch the Gunners if they slip up against Leicester.
“The fact that we are winning games and games, and we could not do it earlier in the season – we played really, really good but we were not consistent,” said Guardiola.
“Everybody knows that if we lose games we lose competitions.
“That is why our attention to detail is higher. It is the same tomorrow, if we lose we will not be champions. If we win, we could still be ther
Pep aims subtle dig at Arsenal over European ex
Guardiola also aimed a slight dig at Arsenal by suggesting they now have a clear advantage over City in the title race following their unexpected elimination from the Europa League
While Arsenal were knocked out of Europe by Sporting Lisbon last month, City progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League – where they hold a 3-0 lead over Bayern Munich after the first leg in Manchester.
“We cannot forget, we are six points behind Arsenal,” added Guardiola.
“A team that has dropped few points this season and is playing one game a week, with a lot of time for recovery and to analyse and prepare for games.
“It will be so difficult for them to drop points, that’s why you have to be there as much as possible.”
City, meanwhile, are on an impressive run of nine consecutive victories in all competitions after beating Bayern at the Etihad.
Arsenal will hope to get back to winning ways this weekend after being held to a damaging 2-2 draw at Anfield last weekend.
Later this month, City host Arsenal in the Premier League on April 26 in a mouth-watering match which is set to have a major impact on the title race.
City are hoping to be crowned champions for the third successive season, while Arsenal are aiming to win their first title since 2003.
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