Harry Diamond
Pep Guardiola insists he is ‘not thinking about titles’ at this stage of the season but insists Tottenham are ‘contenders’ for the Premier League ahead of Manchester City’s trip to face the north London side this weekend.
City travel to face Spurs this weekend in a crucial meeting between the two sides, with the hosts having made a strong start to the campaign to sit second in the division.
Guardiola’s side currently sit 10th in the division and have ground to make up on the division’s leading sides, sitting six points adrift of league leaders Leicester with a game in hand, though the Spaniard insists his focus is simply on the next game and not his side’s title chances at present.
“I’m not thinking much right now about titles,” Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference.
“It will be good to do what we have done in the last three years but it’s difficult.
“We are thinking week by week to do a good job and we’ll see at the end what we deserve.”
Guardiola will renew rivalries with long-term adversary Jose Mourinho this weekend, with the two managers have regularly competed for major honours throughout their managerial careers.
"The result of the game will not change anything"
Jose Mourinho has ruled out Tottenham's game against Manchester City being an indication of them being in the title race pic.twitter.com/K4PKDQEDAc
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) November 20, 2020
Mourinho celebrates a year as Tottenham manager today and ahead of Saturday evening’s clash, Guardiola was full of praise for his rivals’ work since arriving at Spurs a year ago.
“Really good, as always he does at clubs.”
Guardiola was however asked about Spurs’ chances of challenging for the Premier League this season, with the club having enjoyed a free-scoring start to the season that has seen Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min star in attack.
The Catalan is anticipating a tough test this weekend and described Mourinho’s side as an ‘exceptional team’, suggesting Spurs have all the qualities required to be ‘contenders’ for the title this season.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” he said. “They dropped points vs Newcastle and West Ham in the last minutes, imagine the table without [those results].
“The manager is quality, of course they are contenders. They are an exceptional team the last four or five years since Mauricio [Pochettino] took over.”
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