Pep Guardiola has questioned whether the Premier League title race this season is a two-horse race between his Manchester City side and leaders Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta’s men went five points clear of City on Tuesday following an impressive 4-1 hammering of contenders Aston Villa.
Defeat meant Unai Emery’s third-placed side dropped six points off the pace, but City can close the gap to two again with victory at Sunderland tonight.
Asked if City or the Gunners would be the only contenders, Guardiola replied: “Are you sure?
“A few weeks it was just Arsenal, two days ago it was three [teams] in the title race. And now it is just one. We will see.”
Liverpool sit fourth in the table and have an almighty task in an attempt to defend their crown, 13 points adrift of the Gunners.
City ended a forgettable and trophyless 2025 in style with an eight-game winning streak in all competitions, but head to the Stadium of Light where hosts Sunderland are unbeaten this season.
Regis le Bris’ side have made an impressive return to the top-flight, sitting seventh in the table at the halfway stage.
“That means they are so tough,” said Guardiola. “I remember in my first season when I went there the crowd was unbelievable. They have beaten Newcastle. Arsenal and Aston Villa could not win there.
“It will be really difficult but at the same time we are ready.”
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said he did not blame goalkeeper James Trafford for his error in last weekend’s 2-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur, but did not say if the Englishman would start in the visit to Brighton & Hove Albion tomorrow .
Trafford was caught playing out from the back and Richarlison fed Joao Palhinha to score Tottenham’s second with a deflected shot, as City suffered their first loss this season.
“Always we have arms around the shoulders,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.
“What happened doesn’t belong just to James in the second goal. He is a strong man and a huge personality. We are here to help them, no doubt about that.”
However, the manager said he would decide on Saturday who would start in goal at Brighton, as he aims to guide City to their seventh league title during his tenure.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri has suffered an injury setback and is unlikely to be “really fit” until after the September international break, says manager Pep Guardiola.
The Spain international spent most of the 2024-25 season sidelined as a result of suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament injury last September.
The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner returned to action when he came on as a late substitute in City’s penultimate Premier League game of last season against Bournemouth.
The 29-year-old was also part of Guardiola’s squad at the Club World Cup in the United States during in the summer when City went out at the last-16 stage to Al-Hilal.
Rodri came on as a second-half substitute against the Saudi Arabian side but went off early in extra time with what is thought to have been a groin issue.
“Rodri is getting better but he had a big injury in the last game against Al-Hilal,” said Guardiola.
“He has trained better in the last few days. Hopefully after the international break, he will be really fit.”
City open their Premier League campaign at Wolves on 16 August and then play Tottenham and Brighton before the September internationals.
“Hopefully in these games, he can play some minutes, but what is important is that he doesn’t have pain because we don’t want Rodri coming back injured. We will try desperately to avoid that,” Guardiola added.
“He has been training the last two sessions with us and that’s good.”
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has called on fans to treat their Premier League match against Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium tonight as a “final” as his side chase qualification for next season’s Champions League.
City, who beat Everton 2-0 on Saturday, sit fourth in the standings with 58 points from 33 matches, one ahead of seventh-placed Villa. The top five teams in the table qualify for the Champions League.
“It’s a final and we need our people, because I think our people want the Champions League next season again,” Guardiola told reporters. “Hopefully they can help us from minute one. Don’t wait. Sometimes we are sloppy, sometimes we are not playing well.
“But it’s now we need them – we need them desperately, to support us, to make noise and be there all the time, because it’s a final, absolutely it’s a final for us.”
Villa claimed a 2-1 victory when the sides last met in December and Guardiola warned that today’s fixture would not be easy, pointing to the Midlands club’s performance in their 5-4 aggregate defeat to Paris St Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals.
“(Villa) is a contender to qualify for the Champions League, and both games they play against my friend Luis Enrique and PSG, wow I was really impressed,” Guardiola said.
“They can play low block or not, but when they decide to go, with the weapons they have, the speed they have, the set pieces, and the way they organise…”
The Spaniard also heaped praise on Nico O’Reilly while urging the 20-year-old midfielder to improve both technically and physically.
O’Reilly, who has been playing out of position at left-back in recent weeks, impressed in the win over Everton and scored the opening goal.
“He has to see if he can play every three days, like for example, Bernardo (Silva) has proven, or Kevin (De Bruyne) has proven, or Ruben (Dias) has proven,” Guardiola said.
“I don’t know if these young players are able to play three games a week for months and months and months. I admire that he’s playing a position he’s never played before, he’s learning.
“Of course he has to improve (defensively) but with the ball he’s good… He has a good shot, and quality in small spaces, and he’s helping us.”
Pep Guardiola is rumoured to be a candidate for the Milan job in 2025-26.
Gazzetta and Corriere della Sera, two of the most reputable Italian newspapers, mentioned the Manchester City boss in the relation to the Rossoneri job .
Both papers claimed that there have been rumours regarding Guardiola taking over at Milan in recent days, but at the same time, imagine the Spaniard’s appointment in 2025-26 is far-fetched.
Gazzetta, in particular, stated that Guardiola and Milan’s next sporting director, Paratici, are on good terms, so ‘never say never.’
]Guardiola, a former Roma and Brescia midfielder, said in 2023 that his return to Italy as a coach was unlikely but praised De Zerbi, who is now seen as the leading candidate for the Milan job.
The latest reports from Italy suggest Milan have reached a verbal agreement for Paratici to become their new sporting director in 2025-26.
Pep Guardiola has denied the task of rebuilding Manchester City is the biggest challenge of his managerial career as his team battle for a top-four finish in the Premier League.
City, who travel to face Tottenham today, are 20 points behind leaders Liverpool after losing 2-0 to Arne Slot’s side at the weekend.
They are also out of the Champions League after a 6-3 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid in the knockout phase playoffs.
But Guardiola, whose fourth-placed team have won six out of the past seven Premier League titles, said he was not fazed by the challenge of rejuvenating City, whom he joined in 2016.
“We have done it already, so after nine years it’s not the same thing that we started nine years ago. We have done it two or three times already, so it’s not the biggest challenge,” the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss said. “The challenge I had is when I was starting my managerial career and with my staff and a lot of staff, we worked together and proved myself, proved to our staff that we can do it.”
City made four signings in the January transfer window – Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico Gonzalez and Vitor Reis – illustrating the scale of the rebuild required following injuries and a loss of form for key players.
City have won only two of their eight games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in all competitions.
Their last trip there in October ended in a 2-1 defeat in the League Cup at the start of a terrible run that also included a 4-0 loss to Spurs at the Etihad Stadium.
Ange Postecoglou’s side remain 12th in the Premier League despite winning their past three games but Guardiola said they are better than their results show.
“They’re a fantastic team, the quality, individual quality, as always they had, the rhythm
Pep Guardiola said that Erling Haaland’s new nine-and-a-half-year contract at Manchester City is “exceptional news” for the Premier League champions.
The 24-year-old striker’s existing deal was due to expire in June 2027 but he has now committed his future to the club for the next decade.
The Norwegian made an instant impact after arriving in Manchester from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 and his overall tally for the club stands at a remarkable 111 goals in 126 games.
Haaland’s decision to commit his long-term future to City is a major coup for the club during a season in which they have unexpectedly struggled on the pitch.
Guardiola, speaking just hours after City announced the blockbuster deal, said the length of the agreement showed Haaland’s confidence in the future of the club.
“It’s exceptional news for all of us for the club,” he told a pre-match press conference. “When one player decides to sign this type of contract, never done before, it’s because he wants to show how desperate he is to be here.”
Guardiola said Haaland could get even better.
“The contract itself will not make him improve,” he said. “It’s himself who if he desires of course can improve. All of us can improve.”
Manchester City boss Guardiola, 53, and Serra married in an intimate ceremony on the outskirts of Barcelona in 2014 but have now decided to part ways.
News of their split was first reported by Spanish outlet Sport. The couple, who met in 1994, had been living apart for more than five years after Serra moved back to Barcelona with one of their three daughters, Valentina, 17, while Guardiola remained in Manchester.
They have two other children together: Maria, 24 and Marius, 22.
Guardiola and Serra, a Brazilian journalist and writer, had remained a couple despite not living in the same city and have regularly been pictured together in the years since.
Sport reports that the decision to end their marriage was made in December, with only members of their inner circle aware of the split. Their trusted friends and family have also been told not to disclose any further information, according to the publication.
Serra was in Istanbul in June 2023 to congratulate her husband after City beat Inter Milan in the final of the Champions League to seal a famous Treble.
They were also pictured together attending Wimbledon at the All England Club in July.
Guardiola had often spoken publicly about his wife. In January 2024, he said: ‘My wife is the best in the world at many things, especially fashion.
‘She says normally to me, don’t wear this or wear that, so I follow. I’m smart enough to know when people are much better than me, follow their advice.’
Serra decided to leave Manchester in 2019 to help oversee the fashion company owned by her family, Serra Claret, which stocks several brands the City manager is often seen wearing. Guardiola also makes regular trips back to Spain to see his wife and their children.
Guardiola and Serra met while the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss was modelling for designer Antonio Miro in the shop in the Spanish city.
They began a long-distance relationship when Guardiola was a footballer, before they bought a home together in Barcelona. The couple later moved to Germany when Guardiola was manager of Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
According to Sport, their relationship is ‘totally cordial, stable and friendly’ despite the split.
In May 2023, Guardiola said: ‘When I have five days [off] for example, yes [I can switch off from football].
‘I went to Barcelona [after Real Madrid] for example to see my wife, my little daughter. That helps me. But with every three days, there’s no chance.’
Guardiola cut a frustrated figure as he spoke to the media ahead of Man City’s trip to Brentford on Tuesday.
The Spaniard appeared visibly irritated as he was asked about Kyle Walker – who stunned the club by telling them he wants to leave – and City’s January transfer targets.
Guardiola has clearly been showing the strain as he appeared to scratch his own face in the dugout during the Champions League clash with Feyenoord. As his team surrendered a three-nil lead, he was seen on the touchline clawing at his head and was later pictured with red marks on his face.
The City boss later joked it the marks were because he ‘wanted to hurt himself’.
Guardiola enjoyed a successful spell with Barcelona between 2008, turning his side into one of the best in Europe. He later moved to Bayern before taking the City job in 2016, leading the club to he Treble in 2023.
The Spaniard, who also had a stellar playing career, then led City to an unprecedented fourth Premier League title in a row last season.
Guardiola ended speculation over his future with City in November by signing a two-year contract extension that will keep him at the Etihad until 2027.
City are enduring a poor campaign by their standards. The champions are at risk of failing to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Champions League and sit sixth in the Premier League, 12 points behind leaders Liverpool.
Pep Guardiola says Manchester City “need help” during the January transfer window after admitting his side have “no chance” of winning the Premier League title this season.
The City boss celebrated 500 games in charge of the club with a nervy 2-0 win over Leicester on Sunday.
City’s victory – just their second in their last 10 Premier League games – lifts them up to fifth, but they are 14 points behind leaders Liverpool.
“We are far away from winning the Premier League,” Guardiola told BBC’s Match of the Day.
“We accept there’s already no chance of that but we have other things to fight for: FA Cup, top four… and winning games helps.”
City have won six of the last seven Premier League titles, but before the win over Leicester, the club had won just one of their previous 13 league games – losing nine.
Pep Guardiola has vowed not to quit as he strives to restore Manchester City’s lost sparkle.
The City boss is also refusing to point the finger of blame at any players amid the champions’ sudden nosedive in form and results.
Guardiola is facing scrutiny like never before in his glittering managerial career after a nightmare run of nine defeats, with just one win, in 13 games.
It is a dramatic slump in fortunes for the winners of six Premier League titles in the past seven seasons, but Guardiola insists he still has the hunger to turn the situation around.
“I will try, I will keep going,” said the Spaniard. “Sometimes you think (the bad run) will be (ended) earlier or (it would be) easier to fix it, but others it takes more time.
“I will not give up. I want to be here. I want to do it and, with the situation that we have, we have to do it.
“Of course I want it, everyone wants it. I don’t want to disappoint my people in terms of the club, the fans, the people who love this club.
“I think all of us in our job want to do it well and please the people. That is undeniable, not a question mark.
“The biggest test is to come back again, but we have done that before.”
