Pep Guardiola changes tune on Man City's title race hopes after Arsenal steal march

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Pep Guardiola claims Manchester City's title hopes are "not over" - despite claiming on Friday that anything but a win over West Ham would put pay to their Premier League chances.

City headed to the Hammers on Saturday having seen Arsenal extend their lead to 10 points after scoring two late goals to down Everton . The Catalan watched on from the stands, due to a touchline ban, as his side failed to produce the necessary response, leaving the London Stadium with just a point.

It was their second setback recently after spurning the lead against Nottingham Forest . All of which leaves Arsenal with a nine point lead having played a game more, but time is running out for City to chase down the north Londoners.

Guardiola is eyeing his seventh Premier League crown, but knows his side have little to no margin for error. As a result he said before the clash: "Now it's West Ham that defines the Premier League. The league is the most difficult title. I believe it's the most difficult one. Now we go there knowing that if we drop points, it will be over."

But in the aftermath of the draw, which had seen City take the lead through Bernardo Silva before ex-Gunner Konstantinos Mavropanos scored for the hosts, Guardiola refused to give up.

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He told TNT Sports : "No, it's not over. We didn't lose. We continue."

Guardiola's side still need to host Arsenal, giving them the chance to cut their lead by three points, whilst a win in their game in hand could leave them just three points behind. They will still need favours from elsewhere if they are to overhaul Mikel Arteta's side and, once again, deny them the title.

It ends a week for forget for City and co. Just days earlier they had been hammered by Real Madrid , losing 3-0 in the Bernabeu, giving them an incredibly difficult task when they host the Spanish side in a matter of days. They then saw their title hopes take a massive hit.

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City's struggles have, in part, been put down to the lack of goals from Erling Haaland . The Norwegian scored with incredible regularity earlier in the season, but red flags were raised given the team's reliance on their star striker. His dip in form has had a direct impact on results.

Guardiola admitted he needed the ex-Borussia Dortmund man to get back firing but was confident he would rediscover the scoring touch.

"The lack of goals, we miss him of course," he said. "I always believe it's the connections and many things create the good interactions. But Erling, we need his goals. We need to create more, like in the [first half] he has three chances there. We have to create that threat that sometimes we didn't have. He will be back."

Next weekend does present a chance for City to dent Arsenal's season and gain a psychological advantage when they face off in the Carabao Cup final. The country's two best teams will contest the first piece on silverware at Wembley on Sunday.

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