Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is braced for another Premier League title race that could go down to the final day of the season. (More Football News)
They kept the pressure on with an impressive 4-1 rout of a depleted Aston Villa side on Wednesday as Phil Foden바카라s hat-trick highlighted a display closer to their devastating best.
City have been in similar positions before under Guardiola and been able to put together a long winning run to come out on top.
The Catalan remains adamant his side are only third favourites to lift the trophy, but he expects his players to keep up the fight as they seek a fourth straight title.
바카라If we win all our games it will go until the last day because they are not five, six, seven points in front,바카라 he said.
바카라It will not be easy. The feeling I have is not easy. I see Liverpool and Arsenal playing, they don바카라t drop points, it will not be easy.
바카라But we have to do our job and don바카라t regret, 바카라Oh, we should have won that game because they lost after바카라. We cannot do anything, we do not play against them any more so we don바카라t control what Liverpool and Arsenal do. All we can do is win our games.바카라
Even with Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland only among the substitutes as next week바카라s Champions League trip to Real Madrid looms, City turned in a dominant performance.
Although Jhon Duran cancelled out Rodri바카라s opener on Wednesday, Guardiola바카라s side had 25 efforts at goal compared to eight for Villa, with Julian Alvarez a regular threat and substitute Sergio Gomez hitting the post in stoppage time.
But when asked if it was a sign that City were hitting their stride just in time, Guardiola pointedly referenced some of the criticism directed at his side following Sunday바카라s 0-0 draw with Arsenal.
He said: 바카라We were out of the title race three or four days ago and not playing good, the team was not playing like we did the last six seasons. Now we are in the best form in the league? Come on, guys바카라Š
바카라We바카라ve won a lot of the last games. I cannot say in the game against Arsenal I didn바카라t recognise my team. We were there all the time, we didn바카라t create chances because of the quality of defence and because we missed some presence in the box, but the rest, I recognise completely my team.
바카라That바카라s why we are calm. As I said, it바카라s tight, it바카라s not seven or eight points. It바카라s close. We have to wait. They have to lose points, otherwise it will not be possible, but again the team has been exceptional this season, exceptional.바카라
Wednesday바카라s result was a setback for Villa바카라s pursuit of a top-four finish, but one that came with a number of key players missing.
Ollie Watkins sat out injured while goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez pulled out with a stomach problem after being initially named in the team. In total, there were six changes to the side that started Saturday바카라s win over Wolves.
However, Emery indicated that both Martinez and Watkins could come into contention to face Brentford at the weekend, while John McGinn will return from suspension.
바카라We are without some players in some positions and it바카라s very important again to recover,바카라 Emery said. 바카라We will need these players, and this was also why we try to give some others minutes.바카라
