Premier League preview: Pep Guardiola urges Man City to ‘fight’ for the title

MANCHESTER City vs. Newcastle United.

City host Newcastle today night in a match that has assumed a lot more importance for the Premier League leaders following last Sunday’s 4-3 defeat at Liverpool.

Suddenly the Sky Blues aren’t quite so formidable, in fact they’re human, and their first league defeat of the season has emboldened their opponents.

The signs had been growing in the preceding weeks that City weren’t quite as slick as some said with late goals required to see off Huddersfield Town, Southampton and West Ham United.

Then there was the 2-1 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League, their first reverse in 29 matches, and the squeaky 2-1 win against Championship side Bristol City in the semi-final of the League Cup.

All added up, the results spoke of a side that was struggling to maintain the early season momentum and Liverpool’s 4-3 win (two late goals from City adding a gloss to their score line) underlined that there is still work to be done before they can celebrate the title.

Pep Guardiola has always said as much, telling reporters as far back as November that it was premature to talk of lifting the title.

It was a message he reiterated this week in the wake of the Anfield defeat, saying: “I always said we have a lot of games to win to be champions… you have to fight for everything, win the league, qualify for the Champions League or qualify for the Europa League and teams who want to stay in the Premier League.”-THEWEEK.