Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has admitted that his side are exhausted ahead of next week's potential Premier League title decider against Arsenal.
The Citizens currently sit four points behind the Gunners in first place, although the reigning champions have a game in hand on their title rivals, who they also welcome to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night for a mouthwatering top-of-the-table clash. City have endured a gruelling schedule in recent weeks considering they are still in the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League as well as Premier League contention.
After securing their path to the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday night following a 4-1 aggregate win over Bayern Munich, Guardiola revealed that his players are extremely tired ahead of Saturday's FA Cup semi against Sheffield United. Speaking at full-time, the former Barcelona boss said: "Every time we play FA Cup after this competition we are exhausted, the team are exhausted, so I don’t know how we are going to recover to play against Sheffield [United].
READ MORE: Mikel Arteta already has perfect player to make vital change for Arsenal in Man City title race
"We are playing Saturday, we cannot play on Sunday because of course [Manchester] United have Europa League. It’s so demanding and I don’t know how far we will arrive because now it is a tough moment for the game on Saturday,"
Comparatively, Arsenal only have the league to play for having been knocked out of the FA Cup by City back in January whilst also being eliminated from the Europa League last month. That makes Wednesday's visit to Manchester even more crucial for Mikel Arteta and co, who will be desperate to get back to winning ways on Friday against Southampton after drawing twice on the bounce.
READ NEXT:
Mikel Arteta must fix worrying Arsenal trend to win Premier League title ahead of Man City
Bukayo Saka tipped for new Arsenal role after what happened against Liverpool and West Ham
Arsenal given William Saliba injury blow with defender unlikely to make Southampton
William Saliba 'out for the season' as 12-second Instagram footage triggers Arsenal meltdown
Arsenal urged to complete Sadio Mane transfer after touching Bukayo Saka moment
