Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is looking forward to an intense clash against league leaders Arsenal in less than a fortnight.
The Citizens beat Leicester City 3-1 to make it their tenth win in a row and close the gap between Arsenal to within three points. However, the Gunners will take on West Ham later on Sunday and could restore their six-point lead if they see off the Hammers.
Guardiola and City will now turn their attention to the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash against Bayern Munich, where they hold a three-goal advantage.
Afterwards, they will turn their focus to the FA Cup where they take on Sheffield United next Saturday, before the most anticipated game of the season against Arsenal next Wednesday.
Guardiola ready to play ‘final’ against Arsenal
“We have to win, win and win,” Guradiola said, speaking after the Leicester victory.
“Arsenal have done incredibly well this season and I don’t think they are going to drop many points and what we have to do is be there.
“It was important for us to win today to arrive in the final we have against them in our next Premier League game.”
“In general we played really good,” he added.
“Especially after a UCL game and with another UCL game next week – we started really, really well.
“Often after a game like Bayern, there is rotation but in my experience in previous seasons, if you rotate a lot of the team, the levels drop a lot.
“We made two or three changes. After we conceded, we struggled a lot – always when there is a lot of substitutions at the same time we struggle.
“We have to do it better because if Leicester scored another goal, I don’t know what might have happened – football is unpredictable. But the way we played in general, I am really satisfied.”
The season is now reaching its business end and games will come in thick and fast, especially for a side like City, who still remain in three competitions.
Many claim City will not be able to keep up with the demands of a gruesome schedule but midfielder Kalvin Phillips believes City have the quality to maintain their current standards.
He said: “We said it from quite early on that we’ve got enough in the dressing room to go on a really good run.
“We try not to take anything for granted, keep pushing ourselves to become better and better every day.
“If we are not pushing ourselves then we have a manager who is definitely going to push us.”
