The reigning champions and Treble winners will make the trip to Villa Park on the back of three consecutive draws in the league with a 4-4 thriller at Chelsea having been followed by a 1-1 Etihad stalemate with Liverpool and a pulsating 3-3 draw at home to Spurs last Sunday.
That run has seen Arsenal assume top spot in the table, with Liverpool lying second and City currently third, three points off the lead.
With City also having conceded 10 goals across our past four games in total, it has led some pundits to pose questions about the Club’s bid to win an unprecedented fourth title in a row, with Sky’s Gary Neville claiming the champions were suffering from ‘complacency’ after Sunday’s incident-packed Tottenham draw.
However, addressing the media at Tuesday’s pre-match press conference, the boss offered a passionate and rousing answer to those who would doubt City.
“It’s not about that, maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think it’s complacency,” Guardiola asserted.
“I know the players; I know how we run and how we behaved was extraordinary. I have the feeling if we maintain that level, we will win the Premier League again. We will win it.
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“He [Neville] knows how difficult it is because otherwise Gary Neville would have won four Premier Leagues [in a row] during his best period at Man United - but he didn’t do it.
“But I see how my team how we fight; how we press; how we continue to the end, how upset they are after they concede goals…
“I don’t have that feeling but maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t have that feeling. If you drop points people then say ‘Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham what a disaster’, but what do people expect - that we get 120 points?
“But I saw how we pressed Tottenham, Liverpool in the first half and Chelsea in the bad moments and I don’t have that feeling like we’re not playing well and naive and don’t respect the opponents, not at all. I don’t have that feeling.
“Try to arrive in March and April being there in all competitions. This is the target but I’m very pleased with the team, very pleased.”
Play the video to watch Pep’s press conference in full…
