Arsenal can use Pep Guardiola secret against him to surpass Liverpool as his greatest rival

Winning the title once is a huge challenge, the old canard says, but retaining it doubly so. In an era where Manchester City have become the masters of finding ways to dust the gold off their shoulders and win it all over again, the same principle must apply to presenting Pep Guardiola’s side with a serious title challenge.

City’s dominance is made remarkable by their repeated ability to somehow get themselves up for it year after year, last season becoming the first team in English football history to claim four top-flight titles in a row. Say what you like about their spending – and we have and will continue to do so – but achievements like that are hard to come by regardless. The Premier League is hardly a farmer’s league, and Manchester City have rarely romped to the title as runaway winners.

Nonetheless, Liverpool are the only side to have interrupted City’s six title wins in the past seven years, doing so the year after 97 points proved inadequate to claim the throne in 2018/19. The year after taking their first title in 30 years, Liverpool dropped to third, some 17 points adrift of City, before going within a point in 2021/22.

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Arsenal have taken over Liverpool’s mantle since then, finishing five points adrift of City in 2022/23 and just two behind in 2023/24, with a points total and goal difference that would have seen the Gunners named champions the previous year.

Mikel Arteta’s side may look like they’re closing that gap, but as Liverpool can attest, maintaining that kind of push year after year is psychologically and physically draining.

It was notable that, within minutes of the final whistle on the final day of last season that confirmed they would be going home empty-handed, Arteta insisted they did not consider that to be a sufficient achievement in itself for them to shrug and go home content to have tried. As obvious a message as that may be to send, other gaffers may have erred towards calling for the need to take some time to reflect, or on self-congratulation for having gone so close.

But Arteta has been inside the City machine, and has seen first-hand how Guardiola goes about keeping that hunger alive – arguably an even bigger job for a reigning champion, where you could understand at least some subconscious loss of appetite after a league title or four.

There has been some speculation that Guardiola finds himself battling that dangerous feeling of satiation following their Champions League win of 2023. If Alexander is indeed weeping, then it is Arsenal who are best placed to drink those tears straight out of the Premier League trophy…as long as they are able to at least stay in the race long enough.

Recent history tells us that may be easier said than done, but if anybody knows the secrets of how Guardiola does it, it is Arteta, the apprentice turned arch-rival.

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