Man City boss Guardiola begins Arsenal mind games with Arteta message

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has begun mind games with Mikel Arteta by insisting nothing has changed in the title race despite victory over Arsenal on Wednesday. City are top of the Premier League table having leapfrogged their rivals in midweek.

Arsenal dropped to second for the first time since August. City ran out 3-1 winners at the Emirates thanks to second-half goals from Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland.

The Gunners still have a game in hand over City but now face the psychological test of coming from behind. They also have to play City again in April, a team they have now lost to 11 times in a row in the league.

Many feel City are now strong favourites to win their fifth title in six seasons. But Guardiola does not think much has changed in the last two days, putting pressure on Arteta’s Arsenal side.

Pep Guardiola reviews Arsenal win

Guardiola spoke to the press on Friday ahead of Saturday’s trip to Nottingham Forest. He said: “Arsenal still have one game in hand so nothing changed much. If you are a lot of points or a lot of points back, it is a big difference. But we were tight and it’s forgotten and we’re just thinking about Nottingham Forest.”

Guardiola has won four titles in his five seasons at City. But he admits the position his team are in is no better than he dreamt of at the beginning of the campaign.

He said: “Still 15 games left, a lot of games but we want to arrive at the last eight or 10 near the top of the league to make a last effort. We are in the position that I would have dreamt at the start of the season, I could not expect to be many points ahead after two titles, it’s nearly impossible.”

City have now won back-to-back matches against both Arsenal and Aston Villa. But Guardiola says that is not enough to say his side have good momentum heading to the City Ground.

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He added: “Momentum is when you win 10 games in a row, we haven’t done that this season. Three games ago we lost at Tottenham.

“We have to be ready to play against a team who has lost just one in six, a big crowd, good manager. When he took over Nottingham they were in a bad position now they’ve been promoted and doing really well.

“They rely on him [Steve Cooper] in a tough moment earlier in the season and the form is there.”

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