Man City boss Pep Guardiola plays down title race ramifications of Arsenal clash as he insists his side are focused on the Champions League

Pep Guardiola does not believe that Arsenal result will have any ramifications on the Premier League title race.

City and Arsenal separated by a point
Guardiola plays down the significance of Arsenal result
His focus is on the Champions League

WHAT HAPPENED? The Gunners are yet to be beaten in the English top flight this season and boast of having five wins and two draws in the first seven matches. On the other hand, the defending champions succumbed to their first league defeat last weekend after winning six matches in a row which see them leading the pack with 18 points.

The two teams are separated by a single point and Mikel Arteta's men could well leapfrog City if they win at the Emirates on Sunday. However, Guardiola insisted that the result will not have any significant impact on the title race as the fixture is too early in the season.

WHAT THEY SAID: "This will not define a lot. It will be different when they come here at the Etihad (at the end of March) – then it will depend on the situations we are in," he told reporters.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Guardiola is instead more focused on the Champions League as he wants to ensure knockout stage progression as quickly as possible after winning the first two group stage fixtures against Red Star Belgrade and Leipzig.

“We made an incredible step forward in the Champions League. In this month, the Champions League is the most important thing by far, until February when it starts again," he said.

“What I want is to arrive here in February when we start the Champions League to be in the competitions and that it’s close. To be close to the top of the league and keep the distance short and make the last 10 games in our competition ‘let’s do it again’.

“(If you qualify for the Champions League knockout stages) you can focus on the Premier League until it is back again. We made a big step on Wednesday (by beating Leipzig), now we have Arsenal," he added.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

Getty Images arteta

(C)Getty Images

WHAT NEXT? Guardiola will have his task cut out against Arsenal as he will have to do without the services of a suspended Rodri and an injured Kevin de Bruyne in midfield. If they go down to the Gunners, then it would be for the first time that they would lose two consecutive games in the Premier League since December 2018.

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