Guardiola says ‘season starts now’ as Man.City hunt Arsenal

Pep Guardiola said on Friday that the “real season starts now” as Manchester City seek to hunt down Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.

City closed the gap to the Gunners to four points before the recent international break, thumping champions Liverpool 3-0 after Arsenal dropped points in a 2-2 draw at Sunderland.

Guardiola was asked ahead of his side’s match at Newcastle on Saturday about the importance of a potential swing in momentum from those results.

The City boss admitted it was important not to allow “impeccable” Arsenal to build up too big a lead, though he cautioned the season was still relatively young.

“The feeling that I had in the past when we fought incredibly against Liverpool, I had the feeling that we’ll not drop many points and if they can take a lot of distance it will be difficult to catch up,” he said.

“It was similar with Liverpool last season,” when they won the league with four games to spare, he said.

Guardiola, who has won the Premier League title six times with City, said nothing would be decided in November.

“There’s twqo parts of the season, when the transfer window is over in summer and after, when the international break is over,” he said.

“Now the international break is done so we’ll be (together) until March, see each other every three days, four days. Now the real, real season starts.

“And the important thing is to be there, to be close there and after that arrive at the end of the season with the chance that we can fight for it.

“That is the target and of course winning tomorrow would be an important step for us.”

If City beat Eddie Howe’s struggling Newcastle they would be just a single point behind Arsenal, who host London rivals Tottenham the following day.

Guardiola will be without midfielders Mateo Kovacic and Rodri for the visit to St James’ Park.

“Everybody is fit except Kova and Rodri,” he said. “Rodri is making steps good -- it’s almost three weeks since his last setback.

“He knows he has to take time to recover well mentally and physically and to be consistent from now until the end.”

Alisson returns for Reds but Wirtz, Bradley sidelined

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker is set to start against Nottingham Forest on Saturday after missing the past eight games with a hamstring injury.

Florian Wirtz and Conor Bradley, however, will be unavailable, manager Arne Slot said on Friday, citing ‘muscle issues’ from their recent international duty.

“So, that’s far from ideal,” Slot said.

Alisson hasn’t played since injuring his hamstring during the second half of a Champions League game at Galatasaray on Sept. 30.

“Alisson trained last week and this week so he will be able to play tomorrow if things work out well today again,” Slot said.

Giorgi Mamardashvili has filled in for the Brazil international, who has had spells out injured in each of the last two seasons. Last season, he was out for more than two months - from early October to mid-December - with a hamstring problem.

Bradley, a Northern Ireland right back, likely will be sidelined for three weeks. Wirtz, the high-priced Germany playmaker, could return for Wednesday’s game against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.

Slot added that right back Jeremie Frimpong likely won’t be available for the next two weeks.

“It’s going to be interesting who all of you want to see as a right full-back,” Slot told reporters.

Meanwhile, Slot said on Friday that Liverpool would never use their grief over the death of Diogo Jota ‘as an excuse’ for bad results as he seeks to arrest a shocking run of five defeats in six Premier League games.

Forward Jota, a father of three, was killed in a car crash in Spain in July, alongside his brother Andre Silva, with Liverpool retiring the number 20 shirt in his honour.

The champions started the season with seven straight wins in all competitions but are now eight points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal after their dramatic slump.

Liverpool defender Andy Robertson said he could not get Jota “out of my head” in the hours before Scotland’s World Cup qualifying decider against Denmark this week, which they won.

Slot was asked on the eve of Liverpool’s home match against Nottingham Forest whether his team were being judged fairly, given the raw emotion over Jota’s death.

“I think we are always judged, sometimes fair, sometimes unfair, but I saw the interview (with Robertson) as well, live, and I know that it is an issue for us, which is, I think, completely normal,” said the Liverpool boss.

“But then, at these moments in time, I always think about how much it feels for his wife and his children, because that’s so, so, so, so much harder for them than it is for us. But that we miss the player and the person, that is completely clear.”

Slot said it was impossible to properly assess the impact of Jota’s death on performances or results.

“That’s impossible for me to say and we will never use it as an excuse because that doesn’t feel right,” he added.

Goalkeeper Allison Becker is fit again after weeks on the sidelines but Conor Bradley and Florian Wirtz will miss the Forest match with muscle problems.

Slot, whose team are eighth in the Premier League, said that he was not thinking about Liverpool’s title defence.

“Actually, we didn’t do this last season as well, when we were top of the league,” said the Dutchman. “It’s just about the next game.

“And I’ve said many times last season, and I say this season again as well, the best way to judge a league table is after 38 games, but the next best thing, in my opinion, is after 19 games.”

Agencies

Premier League fixtures

Saturday: (1500 GMT unless stated) Burnley vs Chelsea (1230), Bournemouth vs West Ham, Brighton vs Brentford, Fulham vs Sunderland, Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest, Wolves vs Crystal Palace, Newcastle vs Manchester City (1730)

Sunday: Leeds vs Aston Villa (1400), Arsenal vs Tottenham (1630)

Monday: Manchester United vs Everton (2000)