We know what we are playing for

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on facing Tottenham: “This is a team that we’ve played twice this season. If we don’t win we aren’t going to win the Premier League, so this is what we have to do.

“It’s always so demanding to play there [at Tottenham], especially this season. They are so aggressive. At Anfield they are losing 4-0 but they continue to stick to what they believe.

“There are difficulties but we know what we are playing for.”

Phil McNulty Q&A – quirk of the fixture list

Chris: Dear Phil, at the Euros this summer the final round of Group games will kick off at the same time to avoid any “doubt” over results. Should this approach not have been used for United Arsenal and Spurs City given the cross-over rivalries combined with the title ramifications?

Hello, Chris. These games you talk about are simply the quirk of the fixture list. I honestly don’t think you can start switching games around on the basis of cross-over rivalries for games such as Manchester United against Arsenal and Manchester City at Spurs.

The best you can do is make sure all the games on the final day kick off at the same time and this is what the Premier League have done.

Manchester City are two wins away from an historic fourth consecutive English league title.

No-one has ever done that before, which just shows how dominant Pep Guardiola’s team has been.

It would also take Guardiola – personally – onto six championships, which would take him level with Aston Villa’s George Ramsey and Liverpool’s Bob Paisley.

Only Sir Alex Ferguson (13) will have won more.

Guardiola is due to speak to the media this lunchtime.

It seems to happen every year. The season approaches its run-in, Manchester City are up there fighting for top spot but perhaps don’t quite look the unstoppable force they once were…

Fast forward a couple of months and they’ve won every game to take control of the title race.

Well, it’s happened again. Since a draw with Chelsea, Pep Guardiola’s side have won 10 of their 12 Premier League games with the only dropped points coming in draws at Liverpool and against Arsenal.

They’ve won seven league games in a row and haven’t lost in 90 minutes since 6 December.

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