Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on Saturday declared that the Premier League title race was in his team’s hands after the Citizens’ emphatic 4-0 victory over Leeds that saw them reclaim their spot at the top of the table.
Speaking after the match, which saw Rodri, Nathan Ake, Gabriel Jesus, and Fernandinho score, Guardiola flatly told the press, “It’s [the Premier League title] in our hands.”
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“Wolves, Newcastle, West Ham and Aston Villa. We win [them all and] we will be champions – we drop points Liverpool will be champions,” the City boss said after the win, which took his team one point clear of second-placed Liverpool.
“We know exactly what we need to do – win our games,” Guardiola said, adding that it was a “privilege” to compete for a Premier League title two seasons in a row.
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Since Guardiola joined Manchester City in 2016, the Spaniard has led the Citizens to three Premier League titles, and a fourth one appears to be on the cards this season, despite Liverpool’s valiant chase.
With four games left in the Premier League season, City have the more favourable run-in: among their remaining games, perhaps only West Ham and Aston Villa pose a credible threat to the defending champions.
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Title aspirants Liverpool, on the other hand, face a resurgent Tottenham Hotspur under Antonio Conte on May 7, before travelling to Aston Villa and Southampton on May 10 and May 17 respectively. The Reds’ final game of the Premier League season is against Wolves at Anfield on May 22.
However, while City are the favourites to lift the Premier League this season, Liverpool are in the race for a possible quadruple, having already won the EFL Cup and made their way to the FA Cup final, where they face Chelsea. The Reds are also half-way through to the UEFA Champions League final after their 2-0 win over Unai Emery’s Villarreal, and it remains to be seen whether Jurgen Klopp can lead his men to a fairy-tale finish, come the end of the season.