Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City's experience of winning the Premier League and fighting a close title race counts for nothing, as the Blues enter the final two months of the season.
Indeed the City chief feels Arsenal have the advantage of a clear schedule while his side battle on three three fronts with the Blues still chasing trophies in the Champions League and FA Cup.
City trail Arsenal by eight points with a game in hand, and welcome the Gunners to the Etihad later this month. Any slip-up from City will hand Arsenal even more momentum, and Guardiola insists his side cannot rely on their previous title triumphs, and not even their knowledge of how to chase down a rival.
The manager warned his players not to think about their last four Premier League titles, telling them to prove their credentials in their actions rather than think back to how they won trophies in the past.
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Describing Arsenal's points on the board as the only advantage that matters, Guardiola said: “I would love to be in the position of Arsenal, rather than have the experience of winning four Premier Leagues in five years. The advantage is that they are eight points in front of us, this is the real advantage. The past is the past, experience doesn't count. Absolutely nothing.
“When I hear, so many times, managers or players say I don't have to show anything, I don't have to demonstrate anything I've done in the past, it's the most awful sentence. You have to prove it every single day again and again and again. The past is the past. Memories when you are a grandfather? It's okay, it's nice.
“But the reality is tomorrow, when people come to the Etihad Stadium at 12.30pm, they are not thinking about the past. If people think 'I don't have to show anything' – no, you have to, again and again, otherwise you have to retire.
"At the end of the game it's about what you have to do. You have to do it properly and when you play, you don't play for experience. I never played a game thinking 'I'm going to win this game because of experience in the past'."
Guardiola also pointed to Arsenal's Europa League exit as another advantage the Gunners have over City, meaning they have fewer midweek games to play and longer to prepare for each title race fixture.
He said: "They have many points still to play for, many games to play, and a lot of things can happen. For the consistency Arsenal have shown this season, one game a week, out of FA Cup and out of the Europa League. With one game a week, you can have an incredible focus and you can prepare.
"I have the feeling they won't drop that many points. The best way is the feeling we had against Liverpool years ago, that they aren't going to drop points. They didn't and we didn't either. It's a similar situation right now.”
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