Pep Guardiola: Premier League is over with defeat to Leicester

Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola believes that defeat to Leicester City on Saturday would cost his side the Premier League title.

City, currently six points behind league leaders Arsenal, who they take on later this month, will move to within three points of Mikel Arteta’s team with a win against the Foxes.

“Everybody knows that if we lose games we lose competitions. That’s why our attention to details is higher,” Guardiola said on Friday.

“It’s the same tomorrow - if we lose the game, we will not be champions. If we win we could still be there.

“But we cannot forget, we are six points behind Arsenal, a team who have dropped few points during the season and have one game a week, with a lot of time for recovery, to analyse and prepare for games.

“It’s so difficult if you drop points. That’s why you have to be there as much as possible.”

Arsenal focused on Premier League

City are still playing on three fronts, including the Champions League and FA Cup, giving Guardiola more selection headaches in the coming weeks, when Arteta will be focused on one Premier League match at a time.

Guardiola continued: “Sometimes our experience, when we are (playing) games every three days, every four days, we are in rhythm and focus and that helps us. In the past it was like that, playing competitions until the end.

“Sometimes when you have a week (between games) you lose this type of feeling.”

Smith takes over at Leicester

Leicester, who sit in 19th place in the league, appointed Dean Smith as interim manager this week as they look to climb away from the dropzone.

Guardiola added: “They are in a difficult situation but he’s going to help Leicester a lot. When you have a new manager in this situation, I am pretty sure it will have a massive impact on the players.”