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Guardiola embraces challenge of battling Arsenal for honours: “We Need This Type of Challenge”

Guardiola embraces challenge of battling Arsenal for honours - We Need This Type of Challenge

Pep Guardiola is relishing the challenge of facing Arsenal on all fronts, stating that his team and club need “this type of challenge.”

The two teams will go head to head in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup on Friday, with a kick-off at 20:00 (UK time) or 22:00 (CAT time) at the Etihad Stadium. The highly-anticipated match comes as both teams are also vying for the Premier League title. Guardiola, who has great respect for Arsenal’s coach Mikel Arteta, his former assistant coach, believes that this type of competition is what makes the game exciting.

ALSO READ: Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta share glowing praise ahead of Man City vs Arsenal FA Cup clash

Guardiola also emphasized that the ultimate responsibility for City’s fortunes falls on him. Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Guardiola said, “I don’t like, I don’t feel like when it’s going bad, it’s because I don’t run, I don’t feel to point someone. If I don’t want excuses from my players, from the staff, from everyone, I cannot show the excuses for myself. First what happened, in my career since the day one, is look myself first.”

The City manager went on to say that he encourages his players to take responsibility for their own performances and to look to the future, rather than dwelling on the past. “In the end, I had to take the decisions. Before. Of course, the players are there. But I prefer to make me feel responsible for that in that moment. I am not going to say the players do good or bad. Of course they perform and they are the artists and they make all the decisions they make, the good ones and bad ones, but that is the part of the business.”

ALSO READ: Phil Foden on the road to recovery – Guardiola gives update on injury ahead of FA Cup tie with Arsenal

With both teams fighting for top honors, Friday’s match is sure to be a thrilling showdown between two of the best teams in the league. Don’t miss the action as Guardiola and Arteta go head to head, with the ultimate goal of coming out on top.

Watch the full pre-match press conference via the video below.

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Premier League 2024/2025

PWDLPts
1Liverpool
33
24
7
2
79
2Arsenal
34
18
13
3
67
3Manchester City
34
18
7
9
61
4Nottingham Forest
33
18
6
9
60
5Newcastle United
33
18
5
10
59
6Chelsea
33
16
9
8
57
7Aston Villa
34
16
9
9
57
8AFC Bournemouth
33
13
10
10
49
9Fulham
33
13
9
11
48
10Brighton & Hove Albion
33
12
12
9
48
11Brentford
33
13
7
13
46
12Crystal Palace
34
11
12
11
45
13Everton
33
8
14
11
38
14Manchester United
33
10
8
15
38
15Wolverhampton Wanderers
33
11
5
17
38
16Tottenham Hotspur
33
11
4
18
37
17West Ham United
33
9
9
15
36
18Ipswich Town
33
4
9
20
21
19Leicester City
33
4
6
23
18
20Southampton
33
2
5
26
11


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