Pep Guardiola has warned Manchester City to expect a repeat of the dramatic final day of 2021-22 when the Premier League title race goes to the wire on Sunday.
After beating Tottenham 2-0 in midweek, City know a victory at home to West Ham will secure a fourth straight title – a feat never previously achieved in English top-flight history.
Should City fail to win, Arsenal will leapfrog them and claim their first title since 2003-04 if they beat Everton at the Emirates Stadium.
Two of City s previous five title wins under Guardiola were decided on the final day, as they edged out Liverpool at the death in 2018-19 and 2021-22.
On the latter occasion, they went 2-0 down at home to Aston Villa before three goals in five second-half minutes – two from Ilkay Gundogan and one from Rodri – completed a stunning turnaround.
While many onlookers have already written West Ham off, Guardiola does not think a repeat is out of the question on Sunday.
I have the feeling it will be like the Aston Villa game again, Guardiola said at Friday s pre-match press conference.
See you on Sunday!
— Manchester City (@ManCity)
We would like to be 3-0 up after 10 minutes but it s not going to happen. I ve seen enough [West Ham matches].
I m ready for it to be a tough, tough game. I want to put in the minds of my players, Look at Tottenham, how they fight for every ball, the aggression they had. I didn t have any doubts about that.
The 11 players of West Ham will be ready to beat us. Like Aston Villa two seasons ago, they didn t play for anything but I know what happened.
Ourselves and our people have to be ready from the first minute, to be with us and do it together.
