Pep Guardiola has 'perfect' Man City plan amid Arsenal pressure

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about what he will tell his players but had no need to send the fans a message.

Pep Guardiola will be exactly where he wants to be on Sunday. Barcelona might be the one exception, but otherwise being at the centre of a huge Premier League match with the chance to defeat a rival and move closer to silverware is everything that drives him as a coach.

And then there's the Etihad factor. Guardiola spoke on Friday of how City cannot compete with the hunger Arsenal have to win a first league title in 22 years, but they are also yet to win at City's home under Guardiola in 10 attempts. "Don't ask that question then," the manager joked when that fact was put to him, but it was telling how little the manager felt he needed to say about the atmosphere on Sunday.

In an enormous contrast to Mikel Arteta's plea for Arsenal fans to bring their lunches and dinners to the Emirates Stadium last week for their Premier League home game with Bournemouth, Guardiola doesn't need to tell the City fans anything. Even if he did, he knows that they can't be guaranteed to listen.

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That is the benefit of the decade that Guardiola has spent in Manchester where he has developed an understanding of how the fanbase tick. He definitely did not when he arrived - understandably but still a learning curve for him - and it has not been a linear journey for the manager to get to grips with how the stadium responds in different situations.

Like most clubs, it is still a ground that is different depending on the game and the circumstances. When you think of the biggest victories of the season, most of them have come away - Chelsea, Liverpool, and Newcastle (twice) - while home draws with Brighton, Chelsea, and West Ham where the games have not sold out have been some of the flattest moments of the campaign.

However, Guardiola knows that the fans will turn up when he needs them and Arsenal are one of a number of top teams who have walked up to the Etihad in recent years and left with no points and their tails between their legs. Whatever the inexperience within his squad, the crowd on Sunday know how to perform on the biggest occasions.

"It's really good. It has happened this season a few times. They are going to help us because, except last season, the team has been there playing good, bad, winning or losing and on Sunday they will be there," he said. "We are looking forward to start and do our best. I know the people are looking forward to a perfect Sunday, 4.30pm against Arsenal. What else can we ask for?"

There are three issues facing City on Sunday. The first is that Arsenal are an excellent side, the second (linked to the first) is that they only need a draw to retain control of the title race, and the third is that they may prefer this game to be at the Etihad as well.

Arsenal have struggled at their home, where fans are nervous and tetchy amid the tension of trying to win their first crown in 22 years after near misses in recent years. This season is suddenly resembling the 2022/23 campaign when Arsenal led the league for so long and then were reeled in by City after being blown to bits at the Etihad.

That keeps the pressure firmly on them, while for Guardiola it is all about taking it away from his players. He has told them this week just to think of it as another match, and as much as there is riding on it for both teams they simply have to shut out the noise and believe in the process for performing in a football match. As much as City's manager tries to control every aspect of the occasion that he can, he is calm about the bits that he cannot.

"Confidence is how we're going to train, how the player can believe what I believe I know what we're going to do. The six Premier Leagues we won in the past or the title we won in the Carabao Cup doesn't give you confidence to win the next game because Ederson and Kevin and Gundo and Kyle and Manu and a lot of players that made a lot of things here are not here any more," he said.

"Most of them are new and we will see. Cherki never won the Premier League, how is he going to behave in that position? Gigio has never been here, Khusa has never been here; Nico it is the first season where he is really there, Antoine arrived months ago, Marc Guehi arrived weeks ago.

"There are lots of players who are going to play who could maybe win their first Premier League in their life so how are they going to behave? I don't know. My target is guys this is going to happen tomorrow, we will try to do this, convince them, and say let's go. That is the way the game must be played and after that many things we cannot control.

"I think the pressure is, they put the pressure to say, 'oh, if I win we'll be champions. If I don't win, it will be a disaster'. That is the type of pressure that I never, never talk about to the players. Always I had to feel the pressure to say, guys, did I convince you today to play in that way?

"Because we do things, it depends on the quality. So, the opponent, you believe it, that the pressure doesn't exist. When the players know, ah, I'm going to do this, and do that, and I'm able to do this because I'm good enough, we're going to win the game. I have to try to visualize, doing this, we can do it."

If his players can take that in, and the fans can do what they always do on these occasions, it really could be another perfect afternoon for Guardiola at the Etihad.