Pep Guardiola has conceded that Manchester City\u2019s challenge for the 2025\/26 Premier League title could effectively end if his side drop points at West Ham on Saturday. By then the gap to the leaders may have extended to 10 points, because Arsenal play Everton earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it\u2019s West Ham that defines the Premier League,\u201d said Guardiola. \u201cThe league is the most difficult title. I believe it\u2019s the most difficult one.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we go there knowing that if we drop points, it will be over.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those are stark words from a manager who until recently still had the title race in his own hands. City need a slip-up from Arsenal to have a realistic chance of reclaiming the crown. Guardiola would welcome such a result as early as Everton on Saturday afternoon, but Arsenal still face a run of testing fixtures if they are to be crowned champions.<\/p>\n
When Arsenal return from the international break they will face Bournemouth eight days before the trip to the Etihad. That Manchester City versus Arsenal meeting could be decisive in shaping the title race.<\/p>\n
Even if City were to beat Arsenal on the day, the champions would still require favours elsewhere. Arsenal\u2019s April calendar includes Newcastle United before a closing sequence with Fulham, West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace in May.<\/p>\n
City must first resolve their own issues. A shock draw with relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest a few weeks ago, followed by a heavy defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League, dented momentum and morale.<\/p>\n
April is busy for City, with fixtures against Chelsea and Burnley either side of the Arsenal clash, then Everton, Brentford, Bournemouth and Aston Villa in a demanding run-in. Arsenal\u2019s schedule and City\u2019s form mean the opportunities for slip-ups are limited, and Guardiola\u2019s admission acknowledges the narrow margin for error facing his side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Guardiola accepts a defeat to West Ham would end City’s title hopes while Arsenal face Everton. next<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,1056,172],"tags":[1162,1047],"class_list":["post-8509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-man-city","category-epl","tag-analytics","tag-champions-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}