Guardiola said City cannot afford to drop more points in their pursuit of Mikel Arteta’s table-topping Gunners, who have shown no signs of folding
By Kehinde Okeowo
Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola has said his side cannot afford to drop more points after league leaders, Arsenal extended the gap between them to eight points and Newcastle leapfrogged them into 2nd position.
Arsenal moved eight-point clear of City, who travel to Leeds United on Wednesday night, after they came back from behind to beat West Ham 3-1 in a London derby played on Boxing Day.
Guardiola’s side were also overtaken by Newcastle, who moved into second place at their expense after trashing Leicester City at home on the same day.
The Premier League champions face some tough Premier League (PL) fixtures in January, against the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and Wolves.
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Apart from that, they also take on Chelsea and Southampton in the FA and EFL Cups respectively, meaning they will be playing six matches in 18 days.
Against that backdrop, Guardiola has admitted there is no margin for error in City’s pursuit of Mikel Arteta’s table-topping Gunners, who have shown no signs of folding.
He said, “After our defeat against Brentford and with how strong Arsenal are, as well as the opponents who come from behind, we have to be alert and careful.
“If the distance is bigger, it will be so difficult to catch them.
“We have Leeds and then it’s non-stop. Our schedule in January is terrible in terms of the amount of games and the quality of the opponents. So, we have to restart. This is what we did against Liverpool [in the EFL Cup] and hopefully we can continue.”
The Spaniard also thinks his team could be out of the title race if they have a couple of bad results.
Algerian forward, Riyad Mahrez, echoed Guardiola, saying the reigning champions cannot afford any slip-ups if they are to maintain their push for a third straight title.
“We have to hit the ground running,” said Mahrez. “We are not currently top of the Premier League and that is where we want to be. We will take it game by game but our aim is to try to win another title.
“There are lots of strong teams in England who could still win the league, so we are not just focused on Arsenal, although they have been very good so far. If we want to win the league, we will have to be ready as soon as the league starts again.”
