'If you lose, that's it!' - Josko Gvardiol fires title race warning at Arsenal after Man City close gap and has message for England as World Cup showdown with Croatia looms

City have managed to reel in Arsenal twice in the last three Premier League seasons. In 2022-23 Arsenal spent 248 days at the top of the table and were eight points clear of City at the start of April, albeit having played one game more. While the Gunners began to wobble in April with draws at Liverpool and West Ham after throwing away leads, City came into their own and thrashed Mikel Arteta's side 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium, going on to finish five points clear.

The 2023-24 season was more closely fought but City again outlasted Arsenal, winning the title on the final day of the season by two points. Gvardiol, who scored in the win over Sunderland, revealed that City saw that Villa had snatched their last-gasp win just before going out to warm up. 

The defender was involved in that title win and he reiterated how much pressure will be on both teams at the business end of the season. The Gunners are top on 33 points, City are second on 31 while Villa are just behind in third on 30 points after winning their last five Premier League games.

"I remember in my first season we were on the top and fighting for the Premier League and you go Fulham away, all the games, you need to win. If you lose or drop points that's it," Gvardiol told reporters. "First of all they have a good team. It's not just them, it's Aston Villa, Chelsea is good. Sunderland two weeks ago were there at the top. It won't be easy and the season is long. 

"We're not even at the halfway stage. Still a lot of games to play. Two points behind so we are getting closer. We need to build it up like we have for the last two or three months. We will see at the end. Every game is important and we need to win every game. It's a big three points and now focus on Wednesday [against Real Madrid]."

Gvardiol is also looking forward to coming up against his City team-mates when England face Croatia in their first game at the 2026 World Cup next June. Gvardiol made his major tournament debut for Croatia against the Three Lions at Euro 2020 when he was still playing for RB Leipzig, facing future club-mates Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, Kalvin Phillips and John Stones. England won 1-0 with a goal from then-City player Raheem Sterling.

The two nations have a big rivalry on the pitch stemming from the 2018 World Cup semi-final, which Croatia came from behind to win 2-1 after extra-time, although Gvardiol was not involved in that game as he was only 16 at the time. Croatia were also responsible for one of England's most humiliating moments in the 21st century as they stopped them from qualifying for Euro 2008.

"I just spoke to Nico [O'Reilly] about our group," Gvardiol said. "First of all it's life for Croatia, for my nation and our people. It's a big thing to be at the World Cup. When it starts all we try to do is go game by game and try to win as many points as possible and qualify for the next round. I'm happy that I'm going to see them [his City team-mates]. Hopefully all of them will be in the team. I spoke to Kalvin this morning. I remember my first Euros, his first Euros we played against each other in the first game. Kalvin was there, John, Phil, Kyle. I was playing as a full-back so I was on Kyle's side."

Croatia finished third at the last World Cup in Qatar, knocking out Brazil on penalties to make it to the semi-finals where they were eventually beaten by Argentina. But Gvardiol said they have to stay humble.

"We need to stay on the ground," he said. "We're a small nation and we go game by game. That's it. Even the results in Russia and Qatar, we weren't expecting it. With a bit of luck and the energy we put into the games, anything is possible."

City will be in a confident mood when they travel to Spain for Wednesday's Champions League clash at Real Madrid. The opposite is true of Los Blancos, who suffered a shock 2-0 defeat at home to Celta Vigo on Sunday and had two men sent off. The defeat increased the pressure on coach Xabi Alonso and City are hoping to pile more misery on the Spanish giants, who knocked them out of three of the last four editions of the competition and humbled them 6-3 on aggregate last season.

"We go to Madrid to win and not concede a goal and we are ready for that," said City forward Rayan Cherki. "We know Madrid are a very good team but we go there to win, just for that."