Manchester City must respect Arsenal in title showdown: Pep Guardiola

LONDON – Pep Guardiola insisted Manchester City must respect Arsenal when they face the English Premier League leaders in a seismic title showdown on April 19.

Guardiola’s side closed the gap on Arsenal to just six points with an emphatic 3-0 win at Chelsea on April 12.

Second-half goals from Nico O’Reilly, Marc Guehi and Jeremy Doku ensured City capitalised on Arsenal’s shock 2-1 defeat by Bournemouth 24 hours earlier.

They have a game in hand on Arsenal and victory in their crucial clash at the Etihad Stadium would seize the momentum in a gripping title race.

City, six-time league champions under Guardiola, are hitting peak form at just the right time, while Arsenal appear to be cracking under the pressure of chasing their first English title since 2004.

But Guardiola is aware of the threat posed by Arsenal despite their recent run of three defeats in four matches in all competitions, including a 2-0 loss to City in the League Cup final.

“The respect I have for Arsenal, what they have done the last few years,” he said.

“I know the manager, the players, the quality, how they compete in every circumstance, that’s the biggest job we have.

“There is a tactical issue; maybe we will adjust something.

“They have been the best team in this country, in Europe, so far. Beating Arsenal once is so difficult, imagine beating them twice in a few weeks. We have to rest.

“I would like to say to my fans: Respect Arsenal a lot – they are an extraordinary team. Come to join us from minute one because the players will do the maximum.”

Doku added: “They will come with hunger. They don’t want to just give it to us so we have to go and take it. Trust me, we’ll be well prepared.”

Guardiola believes City were underestimated going into the League Cup final, a feeling which his players were able to use as motivation.

Keen to ensure City keep that feeling, he said: “We are going to play against a team that in 49 games lost three games, in the Champions League didn’t lose once this season.

“In the League Cup final, we were complete underdogs. There is not one person in this country that would bet £1 (S$1.70) that we would be much better.

“It’s important to beat Arsenal because we are six points behind them. If they beat us it’s over, if we draw also.”

Arsenal have twice blown substantial leads to City in the title race in 2023 and 2024.

Ominously for the Gunners, City have a track record for peaking at the business end of the season.

When playing their final 10 games across each of the last five Premier League seasons since 2021-22, City have lost just one of 43 matches, winning 32 times.

They have lost just one of their last 19 league games this season and are unbeaten in their last nine.

“We are growing,” Guardiola said.

“We have long weeks now we are out of Champions League. We are more fresh, in training, everyone knows exactly what they have to do.”

Meanwhile, Liam Rosenior admitted Chelsea are in a “difficult place” after the defeat piled pressure on the Blues boss.

Chelsea have lost five of their last six games in all competitions, including three in a row in the Premier League.

In those three league defeats, Chelsea have failed to score and Rosenior said they had fallen well short of the standards he demands.

“Not good enough in the second half,” he said.

“It’s a similar story for the past month now in terms of dealing with setbacks.

“If you go down against teams as good as this, what you have to do for the next five minutes is to stay in the game. It ended up being a really, really difficult second half.

“We have to improve. We are in a difficult place at the moment.” AFP