"We are, six points behind Arsenal, we cannot lose against Leicester City" - Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, has expressed his worry that Arsenal may win the Premier League title if his side loses this weekend.

The remarks were made by Guardiola before of Saturday's meeting between City and relegation-threatened Leicester at the Etihad, while Sunday's match between Arsenal and West Ham is scheduled for the London Stadium.

Arsenal now leads City by six points in the Premier League standings, despite City having played one more game than their Manchester rivals.

Guardiola is aware that if City makes a mistake this weekend, they risk falling farther behind and even placing Arsenal in an insurmountable position.

Guardiola's remarks reveal the mounting strain on City, who have had a difficult time upholding their customary high standards this year.

They are still among the league's best teams, but they haven't been able to match Arsenal's consistency, who have been on an incredible run of form.

Every game is critical with just a few weeks remaining in the season, and Guardiola is aware that his squad must perform at the highest level to continue to be in the championship race.

It may be too late for City to stage a comeback, leaving Guardiola and his players with a sad season finale as Arsenal seems unbeatable.

“The fact that we are winning games and games, and we could not do it earlier in the season – we played really, really good but we were not consistent,” said Guardiola.

“Everybody knows that if we lose games we lose competitions.

“That is why our attention to detail is higher. It is the same tomorrow, if we lose we will not be champions. If we win, we could still be there.”

Guardiola also made a subtle dig at Arsenal, claiming that after City's shock exit from the Europa League, Arsenal now clearly leads the race for the championship.

Sporting Lisbon eliminated Arsenal from Europe last month, but City advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, where they lead Bayern Munich 3-0 following the first leg in Manchester.

“We cannot forget, we are six points behind Arsenal,” added Guardiola.

“A team that has dropped few points this season and is playing one game a week, with a lot of time for recovery and to analyse and prepare for games.

“It will be so difficult for them to drop points, that’s why you have to be there as much as possible.”