Pep Guardiola says ‘season starts now’ with Man City cautious on title race talk | OneFootball

Manchester City will hope to cut the gap at the top of the Premier League to a single point with victory at Newcastle on Saturday – but Pep Guardiola is adamant it is too early in the campaign to be talking about the title race.

With leaders Arsenal not playing until they host local rivals Tottenham on Sunday afternoon, City can put the pressure on when they travel to St James’ Park to face a side against whom they boast an outstanding record, having won 28 of their last 35 against the Magpies in the league, losing just one.

City went into the international break with a 3-0 win over Liverpool, seen as a potentially crucial win in the title race as they put their hands up to be Arsenal’s primary challengers, but Guardiola has been keen to play down any discussion of points differentials.

“We are in November, and in November in this league nothing is final,” Guardiola said. “What happens in February or March, be careful. But the season starts now. The first start is when the transfer window is over in the summer. And now again when the international breaks are over.

“Now until March we see each other every three days. Now the real season starts. It is important to be there and to arrive at the end of the season with a chance to fight. Winning (in Newcastle) would be an important step for us.”

Erling Haaland goes into Saturday’s game on 99 Premier League goals from 108 appearances since joining City in 2022, and can break Alan Shearer’s record of being the fastest to reach a century – which currently stands at 124 games – on the former England captain’s old stomping ground.

Haaland’s goalscoring exploits continued on the international front over the break, as he had added another four strikes to his tally to help Norway qualify for their first World Cup appearance since 1998. In all, Haaland scored 16 goals in eight games during their qualifying campaign.

“He’s incredible this season,” Guardiola said. “He’s breaking all the records, personal and individual records, Premier League records, records for Norway. I’m happy for him, his national team. I saw that many of the squad for Norway weren’t even born the last time Norway were in the World Cup.

“As a football player, a world-class player, he deserves to play a World Cup and live the experience. I’m so happy for him.”

Rodri remains out for the weekend as the Spain midfielder continues to manage his fitness following a recent setback, with a brief substitute appearance away at Bournemouth earlier this month his only appearance since he was forced off at Brentford on October 5.

“Rodri is making good steps,” Guardiola said. “It’s almost three weeks since the last step back. He knows that, he has to take the real time to recover mentally and especially physically with the problems that he’s had, to be consistent from now until the end.”