Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta (Photo by Kate McShane, Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has responded to Arsenal dropping points in the Premier League title race today with their 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa.
Emi Buendia struck a stoppage time winner for Unai Emery’s side as they dealt the Gunners only their second defeat of the entire season.
Meanwhile, Man City responded with a 3-0 win at home to Sunderland later this afternoon, closing the gap to just two points.
Still, even if City are putting pressure on Arsenal, it seems Guardiola is still not expecting Arteta’s side to drop points too often this season, stressing that his side need to be consistent…
Pep Guardiola: “I have the feeling – even if today they dropped points – Arsenal are going to drop few, few, few, few points. If we want to be there, we have to win games, games, and games. And games come from the way you perform, not just from a lucky day or lucky action…”
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) December 6, 2025
As per City Xtra, Guardiola said the following in his post-match press conference: “I have the feeling – even if today they dropped points – Arsenal are going to drop few, few, few, few points. If we want to be there, we have to win games, games, and games. And games come from the way you perform, not just from a lucky day or lucky action…”
Manchester City are now just two points behind – should Arsenal be worried?
City have lost four league games already, and are conceding a surprisingly high number of goals – seven more than league leaders Arsenal.
And yet, Arsenal have not broken far away enough to feel comfortable, so the north Londoners will be worried if this City side still hasn’t peaked.
We’ve seen these two teams going for the title a few times in recent years, and City came out on top in both 2022/23 and 2023/24 owing to superb runs in the second half of both campaigns.
Arsenal fans will have bad memories of those seasons, when just one or two results going differently could have seen them edge City for the title.
It’s a reminder that when you’re facing a manager like Guardiola, and players like Erling Haaland, that you simply can’t afford more than a few very occasional slip-ups or you’ll be punished.
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