Pep Guardiola said “history is in front of us” as he prepares his Manchester City team for a potentially tricky match at Tottenham on Tuesday that could ultimately decide the destination of the Premier League title.
City, chasing an unprecedented fourth straight top-flight English league crown, are one point behind leaders Arsenal but crucially have a game in hand.
If City beat Spurs they will be able to seal the championship with a win at home to West Ham on the final day of the season on Sunday, when Arsenal host Everton.
Guardiola’s men are charging towards the finishing line, hitting 28 goals in their past seven Premier League matches and conceding just five times.
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But the City boss, who said he was relishing the high-pressure title run-in, denied that the race was already effectively over.
“Fifteen goals (in four matches) is fine, it gave us the points to be here but it doesn’t give you an extra thing for tomorrow when you start the game,” Guardiola told Monday’s pre-match press conference.
“The mindset is easy, in terms of if we don’t win we are not going to win the Premier League and this is what we have to do.”
City have never won a league match at Tottenham’s new stadium, which opened in 2019, and have not even scored a goal, though they won there in the FA Cup in January.
Guardiola said despite his team’s poor record at the ground, they had played well there “many times”.
“But to do something in this country that has never been done before you have to do something special, exceptional I would say,” he said.
“It’s not ever happened in the Premier League. We have to do it this time. History is in front of us and we have to accept we have not done it. It’s the time to do it, otherwise Arsenal will be champions.”
Guardiola said he had “huge respect” for Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou, whose team still have an outside chance of securing a Champions League place for next season, though a win for Aston Villa against Liverpool later on Monday would end those hopes.
“The difficulties are there but at the same time we know what we are playing for – to give us the chance for the last game at home depending on us,” he said.
“This is the mindset that we have.”
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