Man City train guns on EPL crown

ARSENAL VS CITY Coach Guardiola admits Premier League title will be the most important trophy for Man City this season

MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has insisted the Premier League title is the most important trophy for his team to win this season, ahead of even potential Champions League success.

The runaway Premier League leaders already have one piece of silverware in the bag, after winning the English League Cup Final in convincing fashion against Arsenal at Wembley on Sunday.

But, as he prepared to face the same side in a league game at the Emirates, Guardiola is far more interested in the six victories that will make the English title a mathematical certainty for City.

“We are fighting for the most important title of the season by far, the Premier League,” Guardiola told a news conference on Tuesday. “More important than the Champions League, more important than the FA Cup, Carabao (league) Cup. That is enough encouragement to be focused.

“The next six fixtures are terrible in terms of quality of the opponents, and we have four games away and we still have to win six games.

“When you think about Arsenal, you think about Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal and our away games -- Stoke City playing (to avoid) relegation, going to Goodison Park (Everton) is always a tough game. We have a lot of tough games still to play and have to remain focused.”

The Catalan coach has won a total of six titles to date in his productive managerial career — three in Spain with Barcelona and the same number of German league championships with Bayern Munich.

‘CONSISTENCY’

Now on course for his seventh title in nine years of management in Europe’s top divisions, Guardiola has no doubt where his priorities lie.

“The league is always the most difficult, a game every three days,” he said. “It shows how good you are over 11 months.

“All the titles I have won, La Liga, Bundesliga, the league is the most difficult.

“In the Carabao Cup we won