In order to catch title challengers Arsenal, Pep Guardiola has cautioned his Manchester City players that they cannot afford to lose against Leicester.
City joined the six points train of Premier League leaders Arsenal last week after the Gunners’ 2-2 draw at Liverpool but they face a potential banana skin on Saturday against struggling Leicester in Dean Smith’s first match since succeeding Brendan Rodgers.
Guardiola said they have to treat every match from now until the end of the season as a do-or-die fixture.
“The only impact I believe is the fact that everyone knows that if we lose it is over. It is the best way to compete. This is when you have the best,” Guardiola told a news conference. “I have doubts that experience. I need more years like [Roy] Hodgson.
The reality is we are six points behind no guarantee we will win the games ahead. There is no team better than Brighton in modern football. Arsenal is no guarantee. We need to win our games, that is the reality. At the end of the games we will see the reality.”
City will win the league if they win their remaining nine matches and Guardiola stressed they have little margin for error as Arsenal have just the league to focus on, while his side are gunning for a treble of the title, FA Cup and Champions League.
“Everyone knows if we lose those games we will not win the title that is why our intentions and details are higher.
It is the same tomorrow, if we lose the game we will not be champions,” Guardiola added. “If we win we could still be there because we cannot forget we are six points behind Arsenal a team that has dropped few points throughout the season and play one game a week with a lot of time to recover, analyse.
It will be difficult to win and drop points, that is why we have to be there as much as possible.”
City play against Leicester on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium before travelling to Germany for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie with Bayern Munich.