Guardiola on City’s title math

Pep Guardiola said Manchester City’s title push may be “a little bit late” with Arsenal still nine points clear at the top of the Premier League. (sports.yahoo.com) The gap stood at nine points before City’s trip to Chelsea on Sunday, April 12, but City had played 30 league matches to Arsenal’s 31. The Premier League said Arsenal were on 70 points and City on 61, with a head-to-head meeting set for Sunday, April 19, at the Etihad Stadium. (premierleague.com) That arithmetic is why Guardiola’s comment landed so quickly online. If City beat Chelsea, win one of their two games in hand, and then beat Arsenal next weekend, the lead can shrink to goal difference rather than points. (premierleague.com) Arsenal’s 2-1 home loss to Bournemouth on Saturday reopened a race that had looked close to finished. Arsenal’s own results page lists that defeat on April 11, one week before the match at Manchester City. (arsenal.com) The schedule is part of the story. Arsenal host Sporting on Wednesday, April 15, in the second leg of a UEFA Champions League quarter-final after winning the first leg 1-0, while City have a full week to prepare for the league meeting. (premierleague.com) City are also balancing other competitions, but not Europe. Manchester City’s official site listed Sunday’s Chelsea match as the next league fixture after a 4-0 FA Cup win over Liverpool on April 4. (mancity.com) Guardiola had struck a firmer tone earlier in the run-in, saying the race was “not over” despite the same nine-point deficit. ESPN reported that line after City’s 1-1 draw at West Ham left Arsenal with the same cushion. (espn.com) The numbers still favor Arsenal. Arsenal’s club table showed a goal difference of plus-38 after 32 matches, compared with City’s plus-32 after 30, which is why any scenario that pulls the teams level would still leave the margin thin. (arsenal.com) So Guardiola’s “a little bit late” line was less a concession than a description of the calendar. With Chelsea away first and Arsenal at home next, City’s title math now runs through seven days in April. (sports.yahoo.com)