Pep Guardiola promises City will give ‘all of their lives’ to retain league

Pep Guardiola insisted Manchester City’s players will give “all of their lives” against Aston Villa on Sunday after his side’s comeback against West Ham left them needing one more victory to seal a second successive Premier League title.

City know that victory against Steven Gerrard’s side will be enough to see off Liverpool’s challenge despite Riyad Mahrez’s failure to seal a comeback victory at the London Stadium.

Having trailed 2-0 at half-time after Jarrod Bowen struck twice, City battled back through Jack Grealish and an own goal from Vladimir Coufal before Mahrez was denied from the spot by Lukasz Fabianski.

Liverpool must now beat Southampton on Tuesday night and hope their former captain Gerrard can produce a result at the Etihad Stadium at the weekend to have a chance of overhauling their rivals. But with a full house expected as City attempt to win a fourth title in five seasons under their manager, Guardiola is confident his players can seize the moment.

“I can assure you something – that we will give them all of our lives to do it,” he said. “It’s an incredible privilege to have the chance to become champions in front of our people at home and I’m looking forward to it.

“We will rest for a couple of days and try to be ready for Villa but the positive thing is it’s still in our hands. They are desperate to win it and we have showed that all season.”

Guardiola added: “I have a feeling every time you win a title it gets more difficult. But this is what you expect when you are up against a team like Liverpool. We know we can’t make a mistake.” City ended their 44-year wait for a league title thanks to Sergio Agüero’s last-minute goal against Queens Park Rangers on the final day of the 2012 season and also won the