City cannot afford a slip-up.
Pep Guardiola conceded Manchester City‘s hopes of regaining the Premier League title will be over if they do not beat West Ham on Saturday.
City would have been forgiven for dreaming of a quadruple nine days ago, but a draw with Nottingham Forest and a 3-0 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League, setbacks that came either side of an FA Cup win over Newcastle United, have left such hopes in serious jeopardy.
In addition to having a mountain to climb to overturn their first-leg deficit to Madrid next Tuesday, City trail Arsenal by seven points in the league, though they have a game in hand and face the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium next month.
Arsenal’s lead could be 10 points by the time City kick off at 8pm, with the Gunners kicking off against Everton at 5:30pm on Saturday.
Guardiola believes the game in hand and their home game with Arsenal will be immaterial should City fail to take all three points at the London Stadium.
“Tomorrow night we have a game, an important one for the Premier League position. Then we have the second leg [against Madrid],” Guardiola told his pre-match news conference.
“We’re used to it, no? For many years we’ve lived these kind of situations.
“Now it’s West Ham and after that we will have time to think about it. Play the game you have to play and after the game will dictate if you have a chance or not.
“We don’t have many dollars in the bank but we will see on Tuesday. Now it’s West Ham. The Premier League is the most difficult title. We’re still there, knowing that if we drop points it will be over.”
West Ham have moved within a point of safety, having looked like relegation certainties in January.
They would move out of the bottom three with a shock win over City, whom the Hammers have not beaten since 2015.
West Ham are winless in 20 Premier League matches against City (D3 L17). That is their longest ever winless league run against an opponent.
Asked about West Ham’s desperation to win the game, Guardiola replied: “We are desperate too.”
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