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Pep Guardiola has warned his Manchester City players that they cannot afford to lose more games because Arsenal look ‘so solid’.
Mikel Arteta’s side are six points clear of second-placed Chelsea in the Premier League ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
City, meanwhile, sit a point behind Chelsea and are looking to recover at home to Leeds United on Saturday after back-to-back defeats.
Arsenal, meanwhile, impressed once again in the Champions League this week as they ran out 3-1 winners at home to Bayern Munich.
Speaking ahead of City’s game against Leeds, Guardiola admits his side are now running the risk of watching Arsenal run away with a significant lead at the top of the Premier League.
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‘We cannot lose games, absolutely, that is the truth,’ Guardiola said.
Pep Guardiola says Arsenal are looking ‘so solid’ after their win against Bayern Munich (CameraSport via Getty)
‘They are so strong and winning games, and winning games in a way where they are so solid, like we had in the past with Liverpool against us and they were not going to drop many points.
‘That’s why you have to be up there and this is what we will try to do.’
Guardiola also claimed his City players ‘didn’t try’ in their 2-0 defeat at home to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.
‘As a fan, I would not cheer my team, playing in the way we played,’ Guardiola said.
‘We didn’t try and in football when you play on the green you have to try things and we didn’t try. Maybe I have a theory to rotate because it’s impossible to sustain but I had a lot of confidence in them and I still do.
‘I have a huge value for what they are as football players. Maybe I think higher of them than they think about themselves. It was a good lesson for me, as experienced as I am as a manager it was a good lesson for me for the future.’
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