It will be first versus second and contenders versus champions when City step out at the Emirates for a clash that has captured the imagination of everyone.
To add an even greater layer of intrigue and anticipation to the game, Arsenal, of course, are managed by Mikel Arteta who was Pep’s assistant coach at City between 2016 and 2019 while Oleks Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus both left the Etihad to move to the Gunners last summer.
The game couldn’t be more delicately poised with Arsenal three points ahead but City having cut the gap last weekend and armed with the knowledge victory would send us top, albeit having played a game more.
CITY+ | SIGN UP TO ACCESS EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
And speaking at his pre -match press conference, Guardiola issued a passionate call to arms, declaring that his City players were more than up for the fight.
“We will defend until the last day, this title,” the City manager asserted.
“The biggest motivation is I don’t want to drop the Premier League, just because we weren’t who we are.
“If they (Arsenal) beat us because they were better, I would be the first to congratulate them as I always have done in our career.
“Not because we are not there. We want it to be a fight for them to take it from our hands, but it’s still in our hands.
“This is what I’d like to do, to fight at maximum to try to retain the title.
“If it doesn’t happen then it’s because the other ones were better. We have to accept and improve, not because we gave up and didn’t do our best.
DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL MAN CITY APP
“This is what I fight (for) every day and I want our players to let them feel what we have to be as a team.”
While Arsenal and City have largely occupied the top two places in the table since the resumption of action after the winter World Cup, a number of other challengers – notably Manchester United and Newcastle United – have stepped up their title pursuit.
And while many pundits have labelled Wednesday’s game as an early shoot-out between the two main protagonists for the league crown, Guardiola insists that the title race is a much wider affair involving several other sides.
All the more so given this week’s resumption of European action which has only added an even more congested look to an already busy calendar.
“Yeah, (Newcastle and Manchester United) they’re there,” the City boss added.
“When I said (there were) a lot of points to play for, I was not just talking about us.
“I think in the Premier League many points and things can happen in the next weeks that we don’t know.
“So always I have the feeling, especially now, in European competition, Champions League, Europa League, FA Cups around the corner this week or next week.
“That’s why I have the feeling in eight or ten games will decide who will win titles, we have to be there in the last moment to make that last effort, to try be there and try to achieve it.”
