Man City players can show at Burnley why Pep Guardiola is so relaxed about the title race

Pep Guardiola said that he loves this part of the season, when spring and the scent of silverware are in the air. Manchester City have three trophies that they could win in the next two months, and as the weather warms up the end of the football calendar could be sizzling.

The narrative has it that Liverpool are closing in on City, and they have to the extent that the gap at the top of the table is only one point. However, not only is the swing still in the favour of the defending champions but they also have experience of holding off virtually the same Liverpool team by a single point.

Guardiola was irked by Christmas at the suggestion that they had already clinched the league, and has been bothered in recent weeks by any suggestion that his team are now under pressure in the title race. Their objective, he insists, has not changed.

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Something the rest of us are not privy to is how the players are every day in training at the Etihad. From what Guardiola has seen of his players since his arrival in 2016, he is confident and relaxed about the final nine games of the Premier League.

At Turf Moor, his squad can show why their manager has that faith. Even if they kick off in second place, City know that if they do their job right they will end the weekend at the top of the league.

No sign of Ruben Dias back in the City squad, which means just the three senior centre-backs available to the manager. John Stones and Aymeric Laporte have played every game since Dias was injured - in part because Ake has also been missing - but with Atletico and Liverpool tests to come this could be the game to get the Dutchman back up to speed.

As the season reaches