Manchester City arrive at this make-or-break stage of the 2025-26 Premier League season under pressure from a campaign that hasn’t quite clicked. After finishing third in 2024-25, following that historic run of four titles between 2021 and 2024, Guardiola’s side started this year with a lot to prove.
They’ve looked like champions in moments, like when Erling Haaland smashed a hat-trick in the 4-0 thrashing of Liverpool at the Etihad. However, constant slip-ups have cost them dearly. Arsenal are currently nine points clear at the top, though they’ve played one more game than City. It’s a massive gap to close, but with eight games left and a massive showdown at the Etihad on 19 April, City are adamant the race is still on.
Guardiola’s Message: Win Everything, Drop Nothing
Speaking last Friday before City’s trip to Stamford Bridge, Guardiola laid out the cold, hard facts of City’s situation. The manager was blunt with the press that his side have to be perfect, or as close to it as possible, to snatch a fifth league title in six years. He told his players they need to win every single remaining game and bag maximum points, because anything less won’t be enough to keep them in the hunt.
He admitted Manchester City haven’t been consistent enough this season and have dropped points they shouldn’t have, leaving them with absolutely no margin for error. Assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders had already challenged the squad to push Arsenal to the limit, especially since the Gunners have started to wobble lately. The stats do offer some hope. Under Guardiola, City average 2.50 points per game in April, the best record of any manager with 15 or more games in a month, and Chelsea haven’t beaten City in nine straight league meetings.
“We have to win every single game,” he said.
“Hopefully, we can get a lot of points. The situation we are in in the Premier League, we need to get all of them, otherwise, it will not give us a chance to try until the end. “We need to get a lot of points. We have not been consistent enough in the season. We have dropped points that we should have taken, which is why we are now in the position where we cannot do it differently.” (Via Evening Standard)
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Can Manchester City Actually Do This, Or Is It Just Manager Talk?
To be honest, this title is Arsenal’s to lose. City’s only path to victory involves a perfect run of results, which history suggests they can achieve, but their current form doesn’t really guarantee it. Guardiola is right that the points they dropped earlier in the year are exactly why this feels almost impossible. The Opta supercomputer currently gives City just a 2.7% chance of winning the league.
On top of that, Arsenal are on track for 83 to 86 points, and City’s packed schedule means most of their upcoming opponents will be fresher and have fewer games to worry about. When Guardiola says “we must win every game,” it isn’t a tactical plan; it’s a manager trying to stop his players from giving up.
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City’s cup form, especially that 2-0 Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal, shows they are still a top-tier side. But winning a one-off cup final is worlds away from making up a nine-point gap with eight games left. If Manchester City pull this off, it will be one of the greatest title comebacks the Premier League has ever seen. If they don’t, this press conference will just be seen as a brave bit of talk that couldn’t change the outcome.
