Guardiola apologises to Gerrard over 'stupid' comments
Pep Guardiola says Arsenal will have to “fight until the last day” if they are to take Manchester City’s Premier League title. The reigning champions meet current league leaders in a seismic clash at the Emirates tonight which could see City go top.
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But Guardiola insisted that whatever the outcome in north London, City are not about to give up their crown easily. “If they beat us because they are better then this is sport, I’ll be the first to congratulate them, as I’ve always done,” he said.
“But if you want it? OK, fight. Take it. It’s in our hands and we’ll defend this title until the last day. This is what I’d like. To fight to the maximum to try to retain the title.” Guardiola admitted City’s focus has slipped after back-to-back successes but said he has seen signs recently that his side are getting back into a title-winning rhythm.
“It’s impossible to win two leagues and every day to be perfect. Sometimes it happens naturally,” he said. “The opponents get better and have a big dream to win something that hasn’t happened for a long time. Arsenal has an incredible history, bigger than us in terms of titles.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola issues threat to Mikel Arteta's Arsenal ahead of crunch clash (Image: GETTY)
“But not recently. They do have something special that we don’t have because we won it recently. So we have to find another trick, other ways, to find the fire as a team and individually to say that we can still do it.
“If we didn’t have that, we wouldn’t be second. We’d be far, far away but we are still there.” City can go top on goal difference with victory at the Emirates tonight but Arsenal have a game in hand.
And Guardiola is hoping his 25-goal leading scorer Erling Haaland will be passed fit for the contest after training on Tuesday. Guardiola also said he was looking forward to meeting up with Oleksandr Zinchenko following the Ukraine international’s move to Arsenal in the summer.
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“He was an important figure in our club. I think everyone here is in love with him!” said the City boss. “At the end there were reasons (why he moved) and Mikel Arteta knew him well because they worked together.
“He believed he could be this piece to try and make the process (at Arsenal) a little bit better. I’m happy for him that it’s going well.”