Manchester City are on the verge of yet another Premier League title (Picture: beIN SPORTS)
Pep Guardiola immediately turned his attentions to West Ham and three players in particular after Manchester City beat Tottenham to move to the top of the Premier League ahead of the final day.
Man City are on the verge of a historic fourth Premier League title after beating Spurs 2-0 to move two points ahead of Arsenal.
City will lift yet another Premier League trophy if they beat West Ham at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, while Arsenal will need to beat Everton at home and hope for a huge favour from the Hammers to end their 20-year wait for the title.
Given Manchester City’s victory over Spurs extended their unbeaten Premier League run to 22 games, it would be a huge shock if they slipped up against mid-table West Ham in David Moyes’ final game in charge.
But Guardiola expects another ‘difficult’ game against the Hammers and name-checked three players who could cause his team problems at the Etihad.
‘It was so difficult a game,’ Guardiola said after Man City battled to a 2-0 victory at Spurs thanks to Erling Haaland’s second-half brace. ‘We knew it would be.
‘They play with a lot of pride and intensity and it’s so difficult to play against them.
City beat Tottenham to move two points ahead of Arsenal (Picture: Getty)
‘Spurs will in the future be unbelievable if they stick with the manager. We gave the chance in our hands for the last game. The tennis players say “the serve to win Wimbledon”, the last game, is the most difficult one.
‘It happened in our period against Aston Villa. And many many years ago it happened with Sergio Aguero [scoring] in 93 minutes 20 seconds against QPR. So there will be the typical game.
‘Now I’m calm but thinking [about Michail] Antonio, [Jarrod] Bowen, [James] Ward-Prowse.
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‘We know what we’re playing for. The tension is there, the rivalry is so good. It’s why it is difficult, we know that.
‘Everyone come to the stadium and make noise. These games are more difficult but you have to do it. We’ll have one day off, two days to prepare, and then we will do our best.’
Manchester City produced an underwhelming performance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but Haaland’s second-half brace ensures they have one hand on the Premier League trophy.
Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham were beaten by the champions-elect (Picture: Getty)
For Tottenham, the defeat means they can no longer qualify for next season’s Champions League, with Aston Villa claiming the final top-four spot behind Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City.
Man City matchwinner Haaland said: ‘It was a bit horrible. A lot of emotions, we were nervous, which is normal for these types of games, but we won.
‘That was the goal, I don’t care how we won. We won. Now on to the next one.’
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