Pep Guardiola acknowledged that Manchester City’s chances of clinching the Premier League title have dwindled, labeling his team as “third” favorites following a goalless draw against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
The outcome places City in third position on the table, trailing Arsenal by a single point in second place and Liverpool, the leaders, by three points. With nine games left to play, Guardiola conceded that the title is now beyond their control. He remarked that City now find themselves as underdogs in the race for the trophy, a stark contrast to their previous dominance with hopes of securing it for the fourth consecutive season.
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.”
“Kill someone,” he said. “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.”
Despite dominating much of the match against Arsenal, City only mustered one shot on target. This marked their first scoreless league game at the Etihad Stadium since October 2021. Guardiola humorously remarked afterward that there was only one method to breach Arsenal’s compact defensive setup.
