Pep Guardiola admits Manchester City will be scared before Arsenal title clash

Pep Guardiola has admitted he and his players will be scared before Manchester City’s title showdown with Arsenal on Wednesday night at the Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola is vastly experienced and one of the most decorated managers in history, with 30 major trophies, but says he will still feel anxious before facing the leaders.

“I manage well but it is a good sign, being a little bit nervous,” he said. “So the people in society, the teenagers, all of them are psychologists for mental health because they don’t accept that being nervous is part of our lives, being anxious is part of our lives, being scared is part of our lives, and nothing happens. We don’t have to be perfect. When we educate our kids, they have to be perfect for Instagram and TikTok and this kind of thing – they have to be a genius.”

Guardiola relishes the apprehension that characterises his match buildup. “When I feel that feeling I know it’s normal,” he said. “The problem would be if I didn’t have that feeling. I like to live this kind of adrenaline … but in the end I sleep quite well. That is not a problem.”

His team will also be nervous. The manager said: “They have experience, too. Everyone has to find his own meditation to prepare himself for what they need, either with music or whatever they need to prepare for the game. But the team is ready for a big battle – I know how difficult it will be.”

Arsenal have taken only three points from the previous possible nine, reducing their advantage to five points. City, who have two matches in hand, will retain the Premier League title if they win their remaining eight games. They are unbeaten in 16 matches but Guardiola insisted he would prefer Arsenal to be in better form.

“After three games dropping points it will be much, much more difficult,” he said. “I would have preferred it if they had come here with better results than the last three.”

City knocked Bayern Munich out of the Champions League 4-1 on aggregate last week but Guardiola thinks they will have to be better to defeat first Arsenal and then their semi-final opponents, Real Madrid.

“I don’t know if the [performance in the] games against Bayern will be enough to win tomorrow or to get to the final of the Champions League,” the manager said. “In some departments, we have to improve.”

Nathan Aké is ruled out with a hamstring injury so Aymeric Laporte may replace him at left-back.