The Premier League title could well be on the line when leaders Arsenal visit second-place Manchester City on Sunday.
In fact, that’s exactly how City manager Pep Guardiola sees it.
“If we lose, it’s over,” Guardiola said Friday. “They are so strong in all departments. Duals, physicality. If you allow them to make a good process by not being aggressive they make a good build-up.”
Both teams can still control their own destiny with a victory, given that City (19-5-7, 64 points) has one more match remaining than the Gunners (21-4-7, 70 points). But a loss would leave Guardiola’s men with nine points to make up in six matches, a nearly impossible task without an Arsenal collapse of historic proportions.
Yet the mood around the first-place North London club has been one of nerves over the last month, during which a combination of other competitions and the March international window has limited both clubs to only one league game.
Those came last weekend, when Arsenal suffered a stunning 2-1 home defeat to Bournemouth the day before City earned a 3-0 win at Chelsea.
City also beat the Gunners 2-0 at Wembley Stadium in the Carabao Cup Final on March 22 on Nico O’Reilly’s second-half brace.
And Arsenal have the decisively longer injury list, one that again includes striker Bukayo Saka (lower body) and midfielder Martin Odegaard (knee), two players who have worn the captain’s armband in recent matches.
Both teams also still have other competitions to think about: City an upcoming FA Cup semifinal against Southampton and Arsenal a UEFA Champions League semifinal against Atletico Madrid.
Given that context, Guardiola’s counterpart, Mikel Arteta, appeared to disagree slightly with the City manager’s assertion that this game could unilaterally decide the title.
“I don’t know, there are six games to go,” he said. “It’s a really important one for both teams, and it will incline the balance a little bit, but winning a game in the Premier League is so tough for everybody, so after this one, they will still have some very difficult matches for all of us, and we’ll have to wait and continue whatever happens.”
If Guardiola’s squad has a weakness, it is that it remains too reliant on striker Erling Haaland for goals.
The Norwegian international has 22 in the league, one ahead of Brentford’s Igor Thiago for the league lead. But he has found the net only once in his last five league appearances as City has taken 11 points, settling for draws against Nottingham Forest and West Ham prior to the win over Chelsea.
–Field Level Media
