Guardiola wary of threat posed by Gunners Morata, Lukaku seek return to form

BATTLELINES Unbeaten league leaders City face Arsenal, who handed them their last defeat in FA Cup semis

MANCHESTER: Unbeaten Manchester City’s season shows no sign of losing momentum with 15 wins from 16 in all competitions after Wednesday’s 4-2 Champions League victory at Napoli. City have not lost a competitive match anywhere since April, but that defeat came in the FA Cup semifinals against Arsenal, the team who visit the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday.

Manager Pep Guardiola has said he sees no possibility of City emulating the achievement of Arsenal’s ‘The Invincibles’ of 2003-04, by going through an entire Premier League season unbeaten

“Apart from the defeat at Watford, Arsenal have won a lot of games,” said Guardiola. “It’s complicated for us. We hope we can recover well after the travel and the game in Naples. It’s so tough when you have the Champions League to consider.”

“Arsenal played without their real squad on Thursday (Europa League group game against Red Star Belgrade), so they have effectively rested for one week. We will lack energy, so our fans will be important.”

City have scored 35 goals and conceded just six in their 10 league games so far, winning at Chelsea and thrashing Liverpool 5-0 in the process, leaving many rival managers wondering how they might be stopped.

Among the players to have impressed this season is Raheem

We are five points ahead of Man United. How many games are left? Twentyeight. How many points? Eightyfour. It is nothing. We’ll of course try to play our game. We’ll not hide. We’ll want to defend well. But we cannot go there and be focused on only defending. We are struggling a lot because we are facing important problems. To solve them is not simple. It’s important to show our character, to be strong, to face the problem in the right way.

Sterling, the winger who Arsenal wanted to sign in August, and who might have been allowed to leave had City’s attempt to sign Alexis Sanchez been successful.

Sterling has not been a prolific scorer during his short career, but has seven Premier League goals already this season, a total that only Tottenham’s Harry Kane can better so far. The winger has another three goals in Champions League to go with that, including one in Wednesday’s win.

‘GAMBLE AND THE RISK’

Also among the goals in midweek was Sergio Aguero, who finally became the club’s all-time record scorer with his 178th for City.

The Argentina international, who had looked apprehensive as he got close to the record, should now enjoy the opportunity to relax in front of goal a little more.

Arsene Wenger has been encouraged by his side’s recent run of form that had seen them recover to win their previous three games before Thursday’s scoreless Europa League draw. summer of 2016 with a huge reputation, Pep had to endure his first trophy-less season as City finished third.

Guardiola seems have turned things around. City are five points ahead of second-placed Man United after 10 games.

EPL and Champions League, in which they have qualified for the Round of 16. His transfer calls have proven right and his tempestuous relations with Sergio Aguero, who became City’s most successful scorer midweek, seem to have settled down.

‘Special One’ had a good first season as United won the League Cup and the Europa League in 2016-17. The Red Devils have had a great start in the league and are placed second with 23 points from 10 games.

players, including his costliest buy Paul Pogba, Mourinho’s side has looked good so far though his defensive tactics against Liverpool (0-0) and Tottenham (1-0) have left his own fans gunning for his head.

combative and controversial as usual, sparing neither his own players nor rival managers. He has set up United for a big season, but will he be able to guide them all the way? in the top division in England, the Frenchman had his worst season in 2016-17 when calls for his ouster became shriller by each day. He survived the annus mirabilis and so too have Arsenal, who are currently fifth in the league with 19 points, trailing Chelsea on goal difference.

has been his usual conservative self in the transfer market, which may leave his side struggling in the business end of the season.

behind leaders City and will have to lift their game several notches if they have to overcome that gap and get into title contention. unravelling for champions Chelsea as they trail Man City by nine points and the Italian’s position at the helm seems increasingly unstable every day.

wrong as he guided Chelsea to title in his first season. Now, Chelsea seem to be facing burn-out with Conte facing questions on his tactics.

his diplomatic behaviour and with a volatile owner in Roman Abramovich, every day looks like his last at Chelsea. Will he survive this testing period and turnaround Chelsea’s fortunes, only time will tell. LONDON : Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku will be under pressure to fire their teams back into the Premier League title race when the misfiring strikers clash in Chelsea’s showdown with Manchester United on Sunday.

Chelsea forward Morata and United front man Lukaku were the toast of their clubs after celebrating their close-season transfers with a barrage of goals.

But, with Chelsea and United battling to keep pace with leaders Manchester City, Morata and Lukaku have lost their midas touch at the wrong moment, putting them under the microscope at Stamford Bridge this weekend.

United manager Jose Mourinho splashed out £75 million to sign Lukaku from Everton after persuading the Belgium international to snub interest from Blues boss Antonio Conte.

Lukaku was off to a fast start, netting 11 times in his first 10 games. However, the 24-year-old finds himself in the midst of a barren spell stretching back six games to the end of September.

United fans have grown frustrated by Lukaku’s lack of contributions outside the penalty area, prompting Mourinho to chastise Old Trafford crowd for failing to give the striker enough support in last weekend’s win over Tottenham. Lukaku responded to the doubters by admitting he is still a work in progress.

After missing out on Lukaku, Conte settled for Morata as an expensive consolation prize.

Morata hit the ground running with seven goals in his first seven games following his club record £58m move from Real Madrid. But, like Lukaku, the 25-year-old Spaniard has failed to score in his last six games, earning criticism for some lethargic displays.

HIGH STAKES

In the circumstances, Morata and Lukaku could do with silencing the critics by producing a price- less winner at the Bridge.

Both players carried hefty price tags because of the belief they were ready to deliver when the stakes are highest.

That will be the case in west London this weekend as champions Chelsea try to claw their way back into the title race.

Fourth placed Chelsea are four points behind second placed United and nine points adrift of table-toppers City.

Conte’s side crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday, erasing the momentum from successive league wins over Watford and Bournemouth.

United are five points behind City after winning only one of their last three league games, although they made it three successive wins in all competitions by beating Benfica in midweek.

When I go to Stamford Bridge and sit in that dugout, on the right side of the tunnel, I am the manager of their opponents, so I accept every possible reaction with the utmost respect. JOSE MOURINHO, United manager