Pep Guardiola believes Man City may need 96 points to win title

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City may need 96 points to win their fourth Premier League title in five years… insisting nine-point gap with second-place Liverpool ‘is nothing’

  • Manchester City currently sit nine points clear of Liverpool at top of the table 
  • Liverpool can reach 96 should they win all of their remaining league matches 
  • Pep Guardiola is therefore demanding perfection from his City squad this term
  • He believes City have been proven a great team by their response to setbacks

Pep Guardiola is predicting that Manchester City may need to hit 96 points to lift another Premier League title.

The defending champions are nine points clear of Liverpool having played a game more but Guardiola is expecting an onslaught from Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Liverpool can reach 96 should they win all of their remaining matches and Guardiola is demanding perfection from his squad if they are to claim a fourth title in five years.

Pep Guardiola believes Man City may need to hit 96 points to lift another Premier League title

Liverpool can reach 96 points should they win all of their remaining top-flight matches

‘The margin with Liverpool is nothing. It’s nothing,’ Guardiola said. ‘We have to win a lot, a lot of games. More than 90 points – 95 or 96 to be champion, I’m pretty sure of that right now.

‘We’ve made an incredible run – 13 victories in 14 games – and our opponent, Liverpool, is there round the corner. That shows how difficult it is. These players have shown they are not scared to face every game with optimism but knowing that we can lose and drop points.’

City face Norwich at Carrow Road on Saturday evening, before Liverpool travel to Burnley a day later.

Guardiola’s last visit to Norwich ended in defeat and he believes City have proven themselves as a great team by the way in which they respond to setbacks.

Guardiola is demanding perfection from his squad if they are to claim a fourth title in five years

City face Norwich at Carrow Road on Saturday evening, where they suffered defeat in 2019

‘It’s about the way we lose,’ he added. ‘Many times we lose as a great team. This is how you become a great team: the way you lose. We have to continue in this way.

‘I grew up in Barcelona and they taught me everything – everything can go wrong. Warn yourself – as an individual player or as a team – that you can lose tomorrow. You can lose and lose and lose. That is the best way to approach the games.

‘The issue is how you behave when you lose games. We were winning against Brentford and Kevin De Bruyne, the best player in the Premier League last season, sprinted 40 metres back with full intensity to recover a ball and help John Stones. When that happens, you cannot ask more.

‘Of course we can lose. Nobody wins all the time. The important thing is being there to win. If we want to fight to win the league, we’ll have to win an incredible amount of points against this opponent that we faced in the last six seasons. There is no doubt.’

Guardiola believes City have been proven to be a great team by their response to setbacks




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