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Manchester City have shown signs of improvement this season but Pep Guardiola wants to see more if they are to challenge for the Premier League title.
Pep Guardiola said Manchester City must sharpen up at the back if they are to sustain a title challenge to defensive kingpins Arsenal this season.
Although the Blues have only shipped eight goals in 10 games in the league this season, Guardiola believes there is room for improvement, especially in a campaign where Arsenal are threatening to set a new benchmark for goals conceded.
Mikel Arteta's side have been miserly in recent weeks and Guardiola accepts his own team are unlikely to hit those standards, but it is at the back where he is sensing the biggest improvement could be made.
"I have the feeling that defensively we are not like I am dreaming of," he said ahead of Sunday's Etihad clash with Liverpool.
"We concede few chances and goals in the Premier League, seven or eight goals so that is fine. We’re not going to compare with Arsenal because they are unbelievable.
"I think we are learning better on how to play against different shapes, man-marking or low block. At the beginning, we struggled to read that a little bit on what we had to do. I had the feeling that we are getting better."
City have made steps forward since the opening weeks of the season. They conceded twice in two of their first three games but since the end of August, the only team to score two goals in a game against them have been Monaco in the Champions League.
That bodes well for Guardiola's belief that the champions will be the team who show the most improvement during the season and he hopes his side can lay down another marker against the defending champions this weekend.
"In my experience, the big teams – when you win, arriving in March or April ready for the titles – is about how much you grow up through September and October," he said.
"The teams who win are the teams who rose. With that, I have the feeling we’re getting better. That doesn’t mean we won’t have some setbacks in some games, that can happen, but if we’re consistent in the way we defend, the way we play… after that it is just body language, just passion.
"On Sunday, we play against the champions right now. Arsenal are not the champions. The champion is Liverpool and they come here to defend their title. We experienced that.
"It is a chance to prove ourselves against the last champions of the Premier League and to see our level. I am so excited to play."
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