Guardiola Earmarks Spurs As Title Contenders
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has earmarked Tottenham Hotspurs as title contenders after the Citizens fell to a 2-0 defeat to Jose Mourinho’s men in North London on Saturday.
Tottenham climbed to the top of the Premier League table for at least a day after Son Heung-Min’s ninth league goal of the season and substitute Giovani Lo Celso’s second half strike gave the Lilywhites their sixth win in nine games this season.
Spurs are unbeaten since the opening day of the season, when they fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to Everton, while City are in the bottom half of the table, resting comfortably in 11th place with just three wins from their opening eight fixtures.
Guardiola believes Tottenham’s bright start in Mourinho’s first full-season in charge makes it an open title race this term, having seen Manchester City and Liverpool dominate the top flight in recent seasons.
"They are top of the league. So obviously they are more contenders than anyone else right now," he told a news conference.
"Of course, there are a lot of points to play for, we're eight points down, we have one game less, but there are a lot of teams in front of us. We have to start winning games, if not that will not be possible, we know it. We have to try to win games, we know it.
"In terms of the game, I think we are not far away, but we struggle to score the goals right now, and it is not about particularly for one person or the other one. That is the reality, 10 goals...is not good enough."
