Guardiola says Arsenal are the ‘best team in the world right now’

Gunners’ have a seven-point lead over City with 16 rounds remaining in the Premier League

Adrian Dennis / AFP
Arsenal Spanish midfielder #23 Mikel Merino (centre right) celebrates his team’s third goal during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg between Arsenal and Real Madrid at the Emirates Stadium in London

O Arsenal is “the best team in the world at the moment”, but Manchester City still has hopes of “catching up” with the Premier League leader, said ‘Citizens’ coach, Pep Guardiola, this Friday (23) during a press conference. The Gunners have a seven-point lead over City, with 16 rounds remaining in the English Championship.

Although Manchester City have overcome similar disadvantages in the recent past, the challenge looks tougher this time, according to Pep. The Spanish coach referred to the impressive performance of the team led by his compatriot Mikel Arteta, who leads both the Premier League and the Champions League, and is still in contention for the English League Cup (semi-finals) and the FA Cup (fourth round).

In the league, “I hope we can get closer to them, improve and have the chance to catch up,” Guardiola said. Manchester City hosts Wolverhampton, bottom of the championship, on Saturday, after losing the last two matches, to Manchester United in the Premier League and to Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League.

The ‘Citizens’ are yet to win an English league match in 2026 (3 draws and one defeat). Shortly afterwards, at another press conference, Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta was asked about the Catalan’s statements.

The best team in the world? “I don’t know, I think we are a team that wants to continually improve, that does many things well, but we are far from perfect”, replied the Basque coach. Arsenal host Manchester United on Sunday, who are coming off a 2-0 victory over Manchester City on Saturday, in the debut of their new coach, Michael Carrick.

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