Guardiola prepares for ‘final’ against Arsenal in title-race clash

PEP GUARDIOLA’S Manchester City are seeking an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title and the Spaniard admits today’s game is vital for his side’s hopes this season.

City trail Arsenal and Liverpool by a single point with 10 games remaining but have the chance to overtake Mikael Arteta’s side at the Etihad this afternoon.

“To win the Premier League you have to win almost all games I would say,” Guardiola said. “I don’t think Arsenal and Liverpool are going to drop much points. The experience Liverpool have in this situation, the quality of Arsenal winning I don’t know how many games in a row, scoring lots of goals… That’s why tomorrow is the final, absolutely. We play a final.”

Arteta will urge his Arsenal side to treat their trip to title rivals City as a home fixture.

The Gunners remain a point above the reigning champions at the top of the table heading to a venue where Arsenal have lost on their last seven visits.

Arteta’s side, however, have the best away record in the Premier League as they look to win their first league title in two decades.

They have won nine of 14 games on the road and face tough trips to Brighton, Wolves and Tottenham in the coming weeks – as well as a Champions League quarterfinal clash at Bayern Munich.

Asked why his team are so good away from home, Arteta replied: “It’s probably trying to play away like we do at home and to have that belief and aggression in our play.

“We have to play every team twice and we know the fixtures that we have and we’re looking forward to it.

“It is different, the previous games when we went there and this season. Now I hope we can show that on the pitch.”

While Arsenal have not won at City since 2015, Arteta has helped the club overcome a number of previous runs of results – including a 1-0 victory over the champions at the Emirates Stadium this season.

“I think that belief comes from winning,” added

Arteta when asked how the confidence has grown.

“You start to win in one ground where you haven’t won for many years. Then you do it somewhere else and it gives you belief and momentum.

“Now they approach away games very similar to home games. You cannot replicate it, but mentally the purpose that we play with is very similar.

“Hopefully we are constantly learning. We learned something from the games we played against Brentford and Porto and that is going to help us for the next one and against Bayern Munich and try to be better every game.”