Manchester City remain in title rice despite early Arsenal sprint, reinforces Pep Guardiola | OneFootball

The Premier League title race remains wide open as Manchester City look to keep up the pressure on current leaders Arsenal when Liverpool visit the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, Pep Guardiola has said.

City sit in second place in the table ahead of this weekend’s monumental meeting between the Blues and the reigning Premier League champions, who did the double over Guardiola and co en route to the title last season.

However, the Reds have been in indifferent form in recent months and have allowed Arsenal to sit well clear at the top of the table as the Gunners themselves try to go all the way this season under Mikel Arteta having come agonisingly close to the title in recent years.

Manchester City are undergoing a period of transition in the backdrop of a sliding doors transfer window that witnessed significant changes to the first-team squad following the appointment of Hugo Viana as director of football.

After suffering defeats against Tottenham and Brighton in their opening trio of Premier League games this campaign, Manchester City have turned a corner and gone on to claim 10 wins in 13 games in all competitions since September.

Guardiola is set to manage the 1,000th game of his career on Sunday against Liverpool and the Catalan – whose side are six points adrift of leaders Arsenal – will know that there is little margin for error for the Blues if they are to win a fifth league title in six seasons.

However, for all their early shortcomings, Guardiola has reminded onlookers that while the Premier League can be lose in November – as Manchester City learnt in the hard way last season – it cannot be won in the early months of the season.

“We are in early November, and in early November nobody wins the title. You can lose it, but nobody wins the title,” the 54-year-old said ahead of a six-pointer against Arne Slot and Liverpool.

After losing four consecutive games in the Premier League between September and October, Liverpool have returned to form with crucial wins at home against Aston Villa and Real Madrid in the last week.

City are likely to miss Ballon d’Or winning midfielder Rodri on Sunday, with Nico Gonzalez expected to start in the number six position again amid a fine run of performances from the 23-year-old January signing from Porto.

Erling Haaland is likely to have a huge say in Manchester City’s prospects against Liverpool after adding another goal to his mouth-watering tally of goals this season in a 4-1 UEFA Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund in midweek.

The new-look Manchester City dressing room can receive a massive confidence boost with three points over Liverpool on Sunday, with Guardiola and Slot expected to keep a close eye on Arsenal’s game against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.