Pep Guardiola has admitted that the three-way Premier League title race between Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal could be decided on the final day of the season.
The Citizens boosted their hopes of winning an unprecedented fourth successive title after beating fourth-placed Aston Villa 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.
Phil Foden stole the show with an impressive hat-trick, following up a first-half free kick with two superb second-half strikes, while Rodri was also on the scoresheet as the Citizens cruised to their 20th Premier League win of the campaign.
Despite that, Man City remain third in the table, level on points with second-placed Liverpool and only one point behind leaders Arsenal, who claimed a routine 2-0 victory over Luton Town on Wednesday.
However, Mikel Arteta's side could be knocked off top spot by Jurgen Klopp's men if they beat Sheffield United at Anfield on Thursday – victory for the Reds would see them move three points clear of Man City in third.
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Guardiola assesses Premier League title race
Man City have only eight top-flight games remaining, including a trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday lunchtime, and Guardiola believes that the enthralling top-of-the-table battle with both Liverpool and Arsenal could go right down to the wire.
However, the Catalan boss has given City fans hope of ending the campaign at the summit as he feels that both the Merseysiders and the Gunners could drop points in their remaining fixtures heading down the home straight.
"If we win all our games, it will be down to the last day because they are not five, six, seven points in front," Guardiola told reporters at his post-match press conference.
"It will not be easy. I see Liverpool and Arsenal dropping points, but you never know.
"We have to show up and do our job and don't regret that we should have won that game because they lost the game after.
"We cannot do anything. We cannot control what they do. We have to win our games, that's all we can do."
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Hectic fixture schedules ahead for title-chasing trio
Fixtures continue to come thick and fast for each of Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal, who are all competing in at least two different competitions heading into the next couple of weeks.
Man City are competing on three fronts, though, juggling Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup duties, while Arsenal are still contending for glory in the former two competitions.
While both the Citizens and the Gunners have Champions League quarter-final ties against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively on the horizon, Liverpool will soon be competing at the same stage in the Europa League, facing Atalanta BC over two legs.
In the Premier League, Man City only have three of their final eight games against current top-10 teams, those being Tottenham, Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United, facing the latter on the final day of the season (May 19).
Liverpool still have four top-10 sides to face, including Manchester United on Sunday, while they are sure to have on eye on the Merseyside derby against Everton later this month.
As for Arsenal, they also face four current top-10 teams from now until the end of the season, including a North London showdown with Spurs just five days after taking on Chelsea.
Oliver Thomas
