Pep Guardiola says he ‘has a feeling’ that Arsenal, Liverpool and ‘another’ Premier League team will drop ‘few’ points in the title race.
Arsenal will look to maintain their three-point lead at the top of the table on Sunday when they welcome London rivals Crystal Palace to the Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta’s side have won six games in a row – conceding just one goal in that time – and thrashed Atletico Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League last time out.
Arsenal are now the favourites to win the Premier League and Guardiola cannot see the Gunners dropping ‘many points’ in the title race.
The Manchester City boss said the same about Liverpool before the defending champions lost their fourth league game in a row on Saturday night, suffering a 3-2 defeat at Brentford.
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Liverpool were the popular favourites to win the title before the season started given their form last season and the club’s incredible spending spree in the summer transfer window.
But a dismal run has seen Liverpool slip to sixth before several of their rivals in the top-half of the Premier League play their games in hand on Sunday.
‘In the Premier League, I have the feeling now that Arsenal is not going to drop much points,’ Guardiola said ahead of Manchester City’s trip to Aston Villa.
‘So that is the reality. I have that feeling with Arsenal, with Liverpool as well.
‘Now Liverpool lost their last games – not in the Champions League in Frankfurt – but I saw the game against United, they had incredible chances to win the game.
‘So I think Liverpool remain one of the main favourites to do that. And the distance, three, four points at this stage is nothing.
‘I always had the feeling that both teams and maybe another one, they will lose few, few points. That’s why we have to be there.’
Guardiola, bidding to lift his seventh Premier League trophy as Man City manager, made a similar comment last week when asked about the title race.
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Asked if he believes third-placed City are flying under the radar in the Premier League, Guardiola sarcastically replied: ‘Well, in the first two games, three games, yeah for sure we [City] are out.
‘And Liverpool is already done, and now it looks like Liverpool is done. And I’ll tell you that they will be back.
‘I’ve said many times, I know all the pundits, all the specialists or former players, they know everything that is going to happen after five games, I’m not able to do that.
‘So, always I wait for 10, 15 games to know exactly what is going on. But I think obviously Liverpool and Arsenal are there, someone else will be there, hopefully we can be there.’
Manchester City have won five of their six matches since sharing a 1-1 draw with title rivals Arsenal in mid-September and beat Villarreal 2-0 last time out.
Sunday’s other Premier League fixtures include Tottenham’s trip to Everton and basement boys Wolves taking on Burnley in a relegation six-pointer.
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