Premier League: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has labelled rivals Liverpool as the favourites for the Premier League, after Manchester City played out a goalless draw against Arsenal on Sunday. With the draw, Liverpool are now in driver's seat for the Premier League title as they completed a comeback win over Brighton in the early kickoff on Sunday. Liverpool now have 67 points, and Arsenal are second with 65, with Man City third on 64 points.
Post-Match Press Conference Of Pep Guardiola And Mikel Arteta
"Yes. Always who is first is favourites, second is Arsenal and we are third. All we can do is think of Aston Villa (next opponents). If you are top of the league, like we’ve been before, you are favourites. We prefer to win, obviously. We take the point. A tight game. I recognised my team, I’m so proud. They tried. Our intention was there. We’ll see what happens. We need to refresh our minds and legs before Aston Villa," said Pep Guardiola during post-match press conference.
When asked about the tactics of Mikel Arteta, Pep Guardiola responded with a hilarious response that has now gone viral.
"Kill someone. Play with nine. They defend well and a lot, surrounding Erling. So be patient and find the pass. They defended well with a lot of people. There are different ways. They did well with the press and then after the block. It doesn’t matter how many players you defend with, the main target is not to concede," said the Spaniard.
"It’s not my job. I control my team and the rest I don’t know. Nothing to say about the referee. Anthony Taylor must be happy because nothing wrong happened. Normally it happens when the referee becomes more important to the players. The ref was really good. It was OK,” he added.
Mikel Arteta, on the other hand, was delighted with the draw and seemed optimistic.
"We are improving, we are competing better and we are understanding how to compete in these games. There’s another step to make to win championships and that’s that you have to win. Today we were able to draw and we have to improve a lot to win. I don’t know. You want to win the game. You prepare to win it. If you cannot win it, make sure you draw it. We did that. Eleven months ago we were here and the story was very different. You have to make steps as a team and today we’ve done that. We still have many more to come. No way can you be fully happy," said Mikel Arteta.
The Spaniard believes that the draw is a momentum booster and that the side will capitalise on every opportunity.
“It generates belief. It continues momentum and the good position that we’re in. The fact that the boys are there and they want more and they’re demanding individually from themselves saying: ‘I could have done better, I haven’t done this as well as when we trained’ that tells you just how much the boys want it. We’ll try our best to continue what we’re doing,” added the Arsenal manager.