Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta both say the top-of-the-table game between Manchester City and Arsenal will not decide the Premier League title race.

League leaders Arsenal are five points above Pep Guardiola’s side before Wednesday’s match at Etihad Stadium.

However, second-placed City have two games in hand on the Gunners who have drawn three matches in succession.

“It is really important, but not decisive because there are many games to play,” City boss Guardiola said.

The two Spaniards worked together at City before Arteta left to become Arsenal manager in 2019, but Guardiola says “nothing changes” their relationship when their sides face each other.

“We see each other less and we speak less but our relationship is always happy,” he said.

The Gunners have suffered defeats by City in both the league and FA Cup already this season and Arteta expects another “difficult” game.

Arsenal, who last won the Premier League in 2004, drew 3-3 against bottom placed Southampton  on Friday, after squandering two-goal leads against both West Ham and Liverpool.

“If we win tomorrow we have not won the league. It will shift probably the percentage, but five games in this league is very tricky still,” he said.

“We knew we had to go to Etihad, it will be difficult, but will it decide the season? No,” Arteta added.

“The belief is there, I look at how the players reacted after Southampton, they defend each other in every moment. We really want it and we are again going to show it tomorrow night.”

Guardiola said his former assistant had helped take the Gunners to “a different level”.

“Arsenal have always had incredible details about keeping the ball, the players they select for the club have big quality and skills,” he said. 

“Mikel [Arteta] has brought them to a different level; they are so competitive and aggressive.”

Arteta confirmed midfielder Granit Xhaka, who missed the Southampton game with illness, is a doubt for the fixture, while centre-back William Saliba has shown “no real improvement” in his recovery from the injury he sustained in the Europa League penalty shootout defeat to Sporting Lisbon in March.

Several Russian and Belarusian players have already signed personal declarations that will clear them to compete as neutrals at this year’s Wimbledon championships, the All England Club said on Tuesday.

Wimbledon announced last month that it had lifted its ban which prevented athletes from the two countries playing last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Speaking at the club’s pre-tournament Spring media conference, Club chairman Ian Hewitt said the U-turn had been the hardest decision of his four years in the job.

“This was an incredibly difficult decision,” he told reporters. “I think our statement on March 31 set out the position as clearly as we could, namely that there were a combination of factors and it was a combination of factors and developments since last year which led to our decision.”

Wimbledon and the other British grasscourt tournaments stood alone in barring Russian and Belarusian players such as former world number ones Daniil Medvedev and Victoria Azarenka last year.

The decision resulted in ranking points being stripped from the events and the Lawn Tennis Association being hit with huge fines by the ATP and WTA.

To compete this year, Russian and Belarusian players must agree to compete as neutrals, not to make statements supporting the war or the regimes involved and not to receive funding from either nation or state-supported businesses.

“The development of the wording of the declarations is obviously based on government guidance, working with the Tours, the ITF and our partners at the LTA,” All England Club CEO Sally Bolton said on Tuesday.

“As soon as we made the announcement players were able to sign the declarations and they are able to right up until the entry deadline. I won’t share the details of who but a number of players have already signed.

“We listened to the feedback from athletes from last year and that was that they wanted the choice to be able to sign the declaration. They fully understand what they are signing up to.”

U-TURN CRITICISED

Wimbledon’s U-turn attracted some criticism with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba calling it “immoral”.

Bolton said she had personally spoken to Ukrainian players at the time of the announcement and that the majority had understood the situation and the club’s decision.

Hewitt reemphasised Wimbledon’s “condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”, which Moscow calls a special militry operation, and said that the tournament would continue to support players and refugees from the country.

Wimbledon will meet all of the accommodation costs of Ukraine players during the tournament and all of the build-up events in the British grasscourt season, while one pound will be donated to Ukraine relief efforts for every ticket sold — amounting to around 500,000 pounds ($621,150.00).

Other announcements included a continuation of play on the middle Sunday, which came into effect last year, and the extension of a trial allowing players to receive coaching from their entourages in the stands.

An announcement on prize money will be made in June.

Chelsea are reportedly increasingly likely to appoint Mauricio Pochettino as the club’s next head coach.

Upon sacking Graham Potter at the beginning of April, the Blues hierarchy made the decision to bring in former boss and club legend Frank Lampard on a caretaker basis.

Had Lampard led Chelsea to the Champions League final, the Englishman would have been in contention to remain at Stamford Bridge in the long term, but the 4-0 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals meant that any possibility of a permanent second stint was ruled out.

As a result, it appeared likely that either Julian Nagelsmann or Luis Enrique would eventually be handed the reins, yet both candidates were out of the race come last Friday.

At the same time, Pochettino became the clear favourite to return to the Premier League having previously managed fellow London club Tottenham Hotspur.

Although it has been widely reported that Burnley boss Vincent Kompany is also under consideration, Pochettino is said to have made a positive impression on Todd Boehly and fellow club officials.

There is now every expectation that the Argentine will be soon be confirmed as the new head coach.

While it is stated that discussions and negotiations are far from complete, it is suggested that an unforeseen change of heart from either party would prevent a deal from being finalised.

With Chelsea having just seven Premier League fixtures left and with little but Europa Conference League qualification to play for, an announcement may be made before the end of the season.

Pochettino has spent this season out of work having been relieved of his duties at Paris Saint-Germain last year, a consequence of their last-16 exit from the Champions League.

Nevertheless, the 51-year-old remains highly regarded in Europe, helped by his stint at Spurs where the club became Premier League title challengers and reached a Champions League final.

In recent days, it has also been claimed that a number of Chelsea players would support the appointment, arguably a key factor when it comes to Boehly and co making their final choice.

Should Pochettino arrive in West London, he will be tasked with overseeing a much-changed squad, a result of Chelsea needing to facilitate a wide array of sales to comply with FFP.

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has urged his Premier League leaders to make the most of an “incredible opportunity” when they travel to nearest challengers Manchester City on Wednesday.

The Gunners are five points clear of second-placed City but have played two games more than the reigning champions.

Anything other than a first away win against City since 2015 would leave the destiny of the title in Pep Guardiola’s side’s hands.

Arsenal have drawn their last three league games, raising doubts over whether a youthful side can deliver the North London club’s first Premier League crown in 19 years.

But Arteta, having seen Arsenal record several notable away wins this season, told a pre-match news conference on Tuesday: “It is going to be a tough night and challenge, yes, but the opportunity is incredible for us.

“We knew from the beginning — you want to win a Premier League, you have to go to Spurs and you have to beat them, you have to go to Chelsea and you have to beat them.

“This is what we have been doing, that is why we are here and now we have to go to City and we have to beat them — you want to be champion, you have to win these matches, it is as simple as that.”

Arsenal will again be without William Saliba as the France defender has shown “no improvement” in recovering from a back injury, while Arteta also revealed Granit Xhaka is doubtful for the match at the Etihad.

The Switzerland captain missed Friday’s frantic 3-3 draw with strugglers Southampton through illness and has yet to return to training.

– Massive game –

Arteta, who won two league titles as an assistant to Guardiola at City, played down suggestions he would need a radical rethink in tactics.

The former Gunners midfielder said it was important the team was able to adapt to changing situations within a match.

“That’s what we do every game in certain areas,” he said. “Are you talking in ball possession, out of possession, in transition, at restarts, on set pieces, emotional state?

“You have to shift it all the time. Every opponent demands and questions different things of you and gives you different opportunities.

“There’s no difference with that team (City), it’s just obviously the quality of the opponent is as good as it gets anywhere in the world.”

Arteta added he had little time for the idea that Wednesday’s match was a ‘winner-takes-all’ contest in the title race.

“If we win tomorrow night we haven’t won, for sure,” the 41-year-old Spaniard said.

“It would shift the percentage a little bit but five games in this league with the games we still have to play, it’s very tricky.

“We knew from the beginning that City was the team to beat with Liverpool because of what those teams have done in the past few years.

“We wanted to close that gap as much as we could and we’re toe-to-toe with them.

“We know it is going to be a massive game. Is it going to define the season? The answer is no.”