City happy with stellar form but wary of Spurs, Everton, Arsenal
MANCHESTER City manager Pep Guardiola said they will guard against complacency following a 15-match unbeaten run in all competitions ahead of a testing schedule where they face Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Arsenal.
Guardiola's City are top of the Premier League with 50 points after 22 games, five points clear of rivals Manchester United who have played a game more.
City, who have also advanced to the final of the League Cup, host eighthplaced Tottenham today, followed by trips to seventh-placed Everton four days later and 11th-placed Arsenal next Sunday.
"The 15 games in a row winning doesn't help us to start 2-0 up before the start of the game," Guardiola told reporters yesterday.
"I said many times it is nice and helps us to be where we are in the Carabao (League) Cup, FA Cup, Champions League and especially the Premier League. But no more than that.
"We have to start again tomorrow to do the next one. It is an important week with three strong teams and this is the target.
"(We have to) try in this time to recover, see who the opponents are, what they have done in the game where we played there, what we have to do to play better and beat them."
Jose Mourinho's Tottenham were the last team to beat City, defeating them 2-0 in November. Guardiola said City will need an improved performance against the north London side to stretch their winning run.
"We lost because they were better. They were better in many aspects," he said. "It is a strong team and we have to do better to beat them."
Guardiola added that midfielder Rodri, who was forced off with an injury during Wednesday's FA Cup win at Swansea City, could be fit for the game.
Guardiola and his in-form midfielder Ilkay Gundogan were, yesterday, named Premier League Manager and Player of the Month respectively for January.
Guardiola, 50, led City to six successive league wins last month as they returned to the top of the table and took control of the title race with a five-point lead.
City secured nine wins in all competitions during January, the most by a team in the top four tiers of English football in one month since the Football League was formed in 1888.
Gundogan scored five league goals and beat teammate John Stones, Aston Villa's Jack Grealish, Leicester City's James Maddison and four others to the award.
"I am very happy, but it is always a team effort," Gundogan, who is the first City player to win the award since striker Sergio Aguero in January 2020, said.
"I have always been someone who does not pay a lot of attention to individual trophies but it is always nice to be recognised." | Reuters