It’s not in our hands, admits Pep Guardiola on Premier League title race

Manchester City’s manager Pep Guardiola admitted they are not favorites to win the Premier League after a goalless draw against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. After this draw, Manchester City are in third place in the Premier League standings with 19 wins in 29 matches and a total of 64 points.

Liverpool is at the top of the table with 67 points, followed closely by Arsenal, who have 65 points. With only nine matches remaining in the ongoing season, the battle for the Premier League title is getting intense.

The veteran Spaniard manager reckons they are third favorites to win the league as they are in third place.

Asked whether Liverpool were now “clear favourites” to win the Premier League, Guardiola said: “Yes. Whoever is first is favourites, second is Arsenal and we are third.

“It’s not in our hands — all we can do is think of [the next game against] Aston Villa. If you are top of the league, like we’ve been before, you are favourites.”

The home team dominated the game but could only make a solitary attempt on goal. Asked about how they could have breached Arsenal’s potent defense, the gaffer jokingly said, “Kill someone. Play with nine. They defend well and a lot, surrounding Erling [Haaland]. They defended well with a lot of people. There are different ways. They did well with the press and then after the block. The main target is not to concede and they did it. We didn’t create much but our intention was there.”

On the other hand, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta was delighted after sharing a point with the Cityzens.

“You want to win the game, you prepare to win it but if you cannot win it, make sure you draw it,” Arteta said. “We did that. Eleven months ago we were here and the story was very different. You have to make steps as a team and today we’ve done that. We still have many more to come.

“It shows you the commitment of every player, the discipline they showed and how they compete. One thing is to play a football match and another one is to compete in it. Today we did that really well.”
Manchester City will next host Aston Villa on Wednesday.