The City boss – the league’s Manager of the Month for November – is readying his squad to welcome the Yorkshire side to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, looking to retain our place at the top of the table.
Having dropped points at home to Crystal Palace and Southampton already this season, Guardiola was pleased to see the Champions grind out a hard-fought win over Wolves on Saturday.
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In the knowledge Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds took four points from our two meetings last season, courtesy of a 2-1 win in Manchester, Guardiola anticipates another intriguing encounter and another entertaining game.
Reflecting on the Wolves win and looking ahead to Tuesday, he told press: “In this kind of game, when the team comes to defend, you cannot do mistakes.
“We did against Palace and against Southampton: we did play not well – that’s why it happened.
“Against Palace, we made enough mistakes and they are waiting for that.
“When this happens, for example Leeds will be a completely different approach. We dropped five points to them last season and we were Champions two or three fixtures before the end of the season.
“It will be completely different but when these teams come to wait for the right moment, you have to be patient – you cannot make mistakes and today (Saturday) we didn’t.
“We were really good against 11 [men] – they couldn’t run, they didn’t do one shot on target with 11.
“At the end because we did not press well, we dropped and we played with emotion: it’s last minutes at 1-0, the game is not over and it happened – but we created enough chances and clear ones to score more goals.
“We didn’t do it and at the end, we got the result. Sometimes these games can happen during the season.
“Now we come back on Tuesday with our people. Against Leeds, they will enjoy to come - it will be a good game.”
Guardiola also spoke of Raheem Sterling’s incredible contribution to the Club, with the City and England star having become the latest name to reach 100 Premier League goals with his match-winning penalty against Wolves.
Asked whether Sterling’s efforts warranted a statue alongside those of Vincent Kompany, David Silva and Sergio Aguero, Guardiola smiled: “It is not my decision. I don’t know.
“What they have done with the Club, they have done with the Club.
“Every decision he is going to make for me is perfect.
“He has been at Liverpool and here. At his age, because he’s young, to score 100 Premier League goals is a lot. This is the reality.”
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