Beware Arsenal! Guardiola delivers warning as title race tightens

PREMIER LEAGUE Beware Arsenal! Guardiola delivers warning as title race tightens

Kiplagat Sang 22:14 - 05.05.2023

City have a chance to widen the gap if they win Saturday’s match against Leeds.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has delivered a warning to Arsenal insisting they want to open the gap wider against their close Premier League title rivals.

City are a point above the Gunners, and Guardiola wants his charges to beat Leeds United and move four points clear.

"[Focusing on] the Premier League is so nice, we want to go four points above Arsenal, and all focus is on tomorrow," the Spaniard told reporters on Friday.

Amid a congested fixture for them, Guardiola hinted that he would rotate his squad in order to avoid fatigue. The Citizens are still competing on three fronts, and that means Guardiola will want every player available.

Three days after playing Leeds, City will face Real Madrid in the first-leg Champions League encounter.

"No, I'm thinking," Guardiola said when he was asked whether he has one eye on the match against Real Madrid.

"It's a lot of games. Yesterday I saw the team really tired after the demands from Fulham and West Ham was so big.

"I'll have to see how the players are, how they recover after just three days; again, my decision will be based on how their physical and mental [conditions] are to play the game."

Kevin De Bruyne could be available again on Saturday after missing the last two games because of an injury.

"He [De Bruyne] trained yesterday. Today we are going to train, and [we will] decide after training," added Guardiola.

"Every player is ready. Again, doctors, physios, sports scientists [have done] an incredible job this season to keep players fit, and we arrive at the end of the season with almost all the players ready."