Guardiola: Man City must 'be in the neck of Arsenal'

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Over the weekend a bookmaker said it was already paying out on Arsenal winning the Premier League this season.

Manchester City, however, is not ready to concede defeat just yet.

Sunday's dramatic 2-1 win at Liverpool closed the gap between the top two teams to six points. If second-place City beats Fulham at home on Wednesday, it will be just three points behind Arsenal, which travels to in-form Brentford a day later.

The title, of course, is Arsenal’s to lose with 13 rounds to go, but with the top two still to play each other at City's Etihad Stadium, it is premature to declare Mikel Arteta's team champion.

"We have them at home although, of course, we have to beat them," City manager Pep Guardiola said. "Thirteen games in the Premier League from my experience is a lot of time.

"All we can do is be brave. Be in the neck of Arsenal. If they slip or make something, use it."

City has form when it comes to chasing down an Arsenal lead. In back-to-back seasons in 2023 and '24, Guardiola's team clawed back Arsenal to win the title.

But this City team is different. It has lacked the consistency of the squads that dominated English soccer for the best part of a decade under Guardiola, and this season alone has lost five times in the league.

Arsenal has changed as well. Arteta has assembled arguably the strongest squad in the league, with depth in every position.

On Saturday he sent on $85 million striker Viktor Gyokeres as a second-half substitute against Sunderland and the Sweden international scored two goals in a 3-0 win.

After that victory, an Ireland-based oddsmaker said it was paying out on Arsenal.

But Arteta isn't buying into the suggestion the title is his after three straight years as runner-up, saying "we still have to win so many games to achieve what we want."