Pep Guardiola has cautioned his players that they must secure a win against Leicester as dropping any points could hand the title to Arsenal
Last week, Manchester City closed the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal to six points after Arsenal drew 2-2 with Liverpool.
However, they face a potential obstacle in their upcoming match against struggling Leicester, in what will be Dean Smith’s first game as the new manager.
Guardiola warned his players that they cannot afford to drop points and need to approach every match until the end of the season as a crucial one.
Guardiola insists on the importance of winning every match
“The only impact I believe is the fact that everyone knows that if we lose it is over. It is the best way to compete. This is when you have the best,” Guardiola told a news conference.
“I have doubts that experience. I need more years like [Roy] Hodgson. The reality is we are six points behind no guarantee we will win the games ahead. There is no team better than Brighton in modern football. Arsenal is no guarantee. We need to win our games, that is the reality. At the end of the games we will see the reality.”
Guardiola emphasized that City’s margin for error is small if they want to win the league, as they need to win all of their remaining nine matches.
Guardiola also noted that Arsenal only have the league to concentrate on, while City is competing for a treble that includes the title, FA Cup, and Champions League.
“Everyone knows if we lose those games we will not win the title that is why our intentions and details are higher. It is the same tomorrow, if we lose the game we will not be champions,” Guardiola added.
“If we win we could still be there because we cannot forget we are six points behind Arsenal a team that has dropped few points throughout the season and play one game a week with a lot of time to recover, analyze. It will be difficult to win and drop points, that is why we have to be there as much as possible.”
On Saturday, Guardiola’s men will face Leicester at the Etihad Stadium and after that, they will travel to Germany to play the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich.
