According to manager Pep Guardiola, Manchester City will be in high spirits when they take on Arsenal in the English Premier League on Wednesday.
This is because players know how to adjust themselves so that they are in the best condition at the right time.
Pep Guardiola explains how to beat Arsenal
So far, Manchester City has not lost in 16 consecutive matches in all competitions, with 13 wins and 3 draws, and the team is chasing the treble after reaching the semi-finals in the Champions League and the FA Cup final.
Guardiola hopes to beat Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium, as it will reduce the difference between the two teams to only two points, and will put the fate of his team in the hands of his players. The Spanish coach believes that his players learned how to discipline themselves early in the season, and have the ability to fight until the last breath of the tournament.
Guardiola explained that his team deals with every match as a final, stressing that winning Wednesday’s match will be an important step towards achieving the team’s desired goals.
Guardiola stated in a press conference: “We now know exactly what we are playing for, and we will try to take our destiny into our own hands. If Arsenal win, their fate is in their hands, but if we win, it is in our hands.”
City have outperformed Arsenal in their last seven matches in all competitions, and Arsenal have not managed to win at the Etihad Stadium since 2015.
However, Guardiola made it clear that the outcome of Wednesday’s match will not decide the fate of the rest of the Premier League matches, and that it is “important, but not decisive.”
He added, “It is really good that we have reached this point, after the first round of the Premier League, it was difficult to imagine that we would be here in this moment after what Arsenal did.”
He continued, “So it is a very important match because we can snatch points from our biggest rivals this season. But there are still many tough matches for both teams. We have more games to play but we cannot deny that the Arsenal game is important.
Earlier, Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta said that his team would need “absolute perfection in every ball” to beat the defending champions, but Guardiola denied this.
He said: “Football knows no perfection. But with the way they (Arsenal) played against so many teams, we have to be in great shape to impose our style.
And he continued, “In such matches, we must play with strength and ferocity.. It will not be a match in which a party controls 65 or 70 percent of the ball.”
Guardiola stressed, in the press conference, the importance of his team’s match against Arsenal, and that it will be an opportunity to snatch points from one of the biggest competitors this season, stressing that it is not a decisive match for the fate of the English Premier League, but it is important.
He added that the victory would put City’s fate in their hands, while Arsenal’s fate would be in their hands if they achieved victory.
Guardiola also denied Mikel Arteta’s statements that Arsenal would need absolute perfection to win, stressing the importance of imposing their own style of play and playing with strength and ferocity in a difficult match against one of the biggest rivals.
