Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has expressed confidence that his team can still close the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal, despite their recent setback.
City suffered a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday, ending their nine-game unbeaten run across all competitions and leaving them six points behind Arsenal, who secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium.
The result saw the reigning champions drop to fifth place, behind Arsenal, Bournemouth, Tottenham, and Sunderland.
However, Guardiola — who has guided City to six league titles in nine years — remains optimistic about their chances in the title race.
“We have to try to close [the gap],” Guardiola said. “Arsenal have been solid for many years. I’m concerned with how we can improve as a team and stay close. From my experience, the season is very long. There are many teams there — Bournemouth are doing really well and the others too — but we’ll focus on playing our game.”
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