Pep Guardiola: Manchester City Boss Concedes Title Race to Arsenal

• Premier League football is back today after the first international break since the World Cup
• Second-placed Manchester City will welcome Liverpool to the Etihad Stadium in a tricky encounter
• League leaders Arsenal will host relegation-threatened Leeds United at the Emirates Stadium

Manchester City and Liverpool fought until the last day of last season. A dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Aston Villa helped the Citizens pip their rivals to the title.

Pep Guardiola's men have a new challenger this season in Arsenal, who are currently eight points clear at the top of the table with 10 games to go.

The two sides still have their second leg game at the Etihad Stadium, but it would not be enough to clear the eight points advantage even if City wins.

City welcome Liverpool to the Etihad in lunchtime kick-off today, while Arsenal will host relegation strugglers Leeds United at the Emirates Stadium hours later.

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Guardiola concedes title race

According to Mirror UK, Guardiola has led City to win four of the last five Premier League titles, missing out on the 2019/20 season to Liverpool. However, he warns his players their experience counts for nothing.

‘‘I would love to be in the position of Arsenal, rather than have the experience of winning four Premier Leagues in five years,’’ he told reporters, as quoted by Metro UK.

‘‘I’d prefer to be in Arsenal’s position in the Premier League than the one we have. The advantage is that they are eight points in front of us, this is the real advantage. The past is the past, experience doesn’t count. Absolutely nothing.’’

Pep believes having experience does not mean you can not be beaten to it or have not to prove it every time; otherwise, you would not be reckoned with.

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‘‘When I hear managers or players say, ‘I don’t have to show anything, I don’t have to demonstrate anything’, it’s the most awful sentence,’’ he said.

‘‘You have to prove it every single day, again and again and again. The past is the past. Memories when you are a grandfather? It’s okay, it’s nice. If people think ‘I don’t have to show anything’, no, you have to, again and again, otherwise you have to retire,.’

Arteta copied Guardiola's tactics

Sports Brief reported that Mikel Arteta admitted to copying Guardiola's tactics to deploy Ukrainian player Oleksandr Zinchenko, who signed from City in the summer.

Arteta, who was Guardiola's former assistant at City, revealed he uses the player in a floating full-back role, similar to Philip Lahm at Bayern Munich.