‘Maybe we have a little chance’ says Guardiola on title race

Pep Guardiola joked that Manchester City are still in with a chance of winning the Premier League this season after watching his side beat Leicester 1-0 on Saturday evening.

Gabriel Jesus scored the decisive goal ten minutes from time, ensuring Sergio Aguero’s earlier missed penalty did not prove costly.

The reigning champions were without Raheem Sterling as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury, so Riyad Mahrez started at the ground he used to call home.

When asked if Sterling could feature against Real Madrid in the Champions League next week, Guardiola admitted that the winger is the type of player he may gamble with for such a big game, while also hinting that he still believes City could claim a hugely unlikely title at the end of the campaign

“I think so, he’s getting there, with this kind of injury it is a little bit dangerous”, Guardiola told Sky Sports.

“He feels really well but the doctor said he’s still got another two or three weeks, so [we could] take a risk for Madrid.

“We want him for the second leg to be able to play and also for the position in the Premier League, today we are 19 points [behind], maybe we have a little chance, I don’t know.

 

“We [still] have a chance to win the Premier League, so it’s better to take a risk when we have to do it”.

City have played a game more than table-topping Liverpool, who have the chance re-establish their 22-point lead when they take on West Ham at Anfield on Monday night.

Having won 25 and drawn one of their 26 fixtures so far, just five wins from their remaining 12 games would guarantee the Reds a first league title in thirty years.

It would therefore take a huge drop in form from Jurgen Klopp’s side for the Premier League not to end up at Anfield in May, while City would have to put in an almost faultless performance between now and the end of the year.