Man City can’t afford to drop points in title race: Guardiola

Manchester City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola reacts prior to the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Brighton and Hove Albion at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) /

Pep Guardiola admits Manchester City cannot afford to drop any more points if they are to catch leaders Arsenal in the Premier League title race.

Guardiola’s second-placed side will trail Arsenal by five points if the Gunners beat Everton in their game in hand on Wednesday.

City had seized top spot when they won 3-1 at Arsenal recently, but a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest allowed Mikel Arteta’s team to regain top spot.

The champions routed Bournemouth 4-1 on Saturday to stay in the hunt, just hours after Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Leicester.

But with City having to come from behind in their bid to win a fifth title in six seasons, Guardiola knows they have no margin for error.

“I have the feeling in the Premier League many things are going to happen. Everyone is going to drop points but we cannot drop any if we are going to fight until the end,” Guardiola told reporters on Monday.

Guardiola’s men travel to second-tier Bristol City in the FA Cup fifth round on Tuesday before returning to their title defence with a potentially tricky test against Newcastle on Saturday.

City have been unusually inconsistent for much of this season, giving Arsenal the opportunity to take pole position.

Yet Guardiola insists City are still competing to the standard he demands, regardless of their occasional slip-ups.

“The game we are playing is good. The results could be better – in terms of winning at Spurs or Nottingham – but sometimes that happens,” he said.

“Of course it’s not exceptional, it’s OK, it’s good, but I