Manchester City saw their record winning streak end at 21 (hey, they hit black jack!) yesterday, as they fell at home to Manchester United. The derby defeat was a setback, yes, but they’re still 11 points up with just 10 games to go.
In other words, they’re champions-elect, and it’s a matter of when, but not if. City manager Pep Guardiola outlined what his side needs to do in order to clinch it.
“We have done incredible, but today the news is we lost so congrats Man United for this victory, but we are trying to win the Premier League,” Pep Guardiola said.
“We will try to win the Premier League and we need to win six or seven games and now when you arrive in the last 10 games, everything is going to be shorter.”
Up next is another home league match, against Southampton, on Wednesday. They enter the match first in the Premiership in goals and shots. They’re second in assists, but 20th in saves, which is actually a testament to their defense, as their goalkeepers just aren’t having to face shots.
“Our opponents would have to win all their games and then we would have to lose four or five. What we need to do is recover,” Pep Guardiola continued.
“I will not speak to the team tomorrow but on the day of the game I will tell the team how incredible they are because of the way we lost today and kept going to the end against an incredibly difficult team who have been one year unbeaten away from home.
“Having the margin we have at the top; it is in our hands but what we need now is new fresh legs next Wednesday and try to win another game.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.