With reigning Premier League champions Manchester City currently eight points behind log leaders Arsenal, Pep Guardiola has admitted that his side cannot afford to lose any more ground to Mikel Arteta's men.
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The Citizens currently sit third in the Premier League standings, and their aspirations of winning three consecutive league titles looks under threat.
While City do have a plethora of experience in winning leagues in recent years, Guardiola has admitted that any slip in form could be detrimental to their title ambitions as they face a "terrible" month of fixtures to kick-start 2023.
"After our defeat against Brentford and with how strong Arsenal are, as well as the opponents who come from behind, we have to be alert and careful," Guardiola said, as per the Daily Mirror.
"If the distance is bigger, it will be so difficult to catch them.
"We have Leeds and then it's non-stop. Our schedule in January is terrible in terms of the amount of games and the quality of the opponents.
"So, we have to restart. This is what we did against Liverpool [in the EFL Cup] and hopefully we can continue."
City have a gruelling January ahead as they are set to face Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the space of just 18 days.
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Challenging on all domestic fronts as well as in Europe, City winger Riyad Mahrez has echoed his manager's sentiments about catching the north Londoners.
"We have to hit the ground running," he said. "We are not currently top of the Premier League and that is where we want to be. We will take it game by game but our aim is to try to win another title.
"There are lots of strong teams in England who could still win the league, so we are not just focused on Arsenal, although they have been very good so far.
"If we want to win the league, we will have to be ready as soon as the league starts again."
The Citizens' next match is against Leeds United on Wednesday night.
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