Pep Guardiola jokes he’s hoping Arsenal concede 1 goal

Pep Guardiola has joked that he hopes Arsenal end up conceding just one goal, as Manchester City strive to get involved in the title race.

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After Arsenal’s victory over Burnley and Manchester City’s victory over Bournemouth this weekend, the Gunners are actually clearer at the top of the Premier League table.

Bournemouth started the weekend as Arsenal’s closest challengers, but it would have been foolish to believe City weren’t in the race.

They are certainly involved now, six points behind Mikel Arteta’s side and one point ahead of reigning champions Liverpool. Yet they need Arsenal to give them an opening to catch up, and Pep Guardiola joked on Sunday that he was still waiting for the team to concede even a single goal.

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“Well, I hope Arsenal can concede a goal one day, don’t you?” »Guardiola joked. “It’s not easy for them.

“But I said, the energy that we didn’t have (before), we have it. I had the feeling since the World Cup that we were at that moment. But there are only 10 games left, still 28 to play, many, many things are going to happen, it is important to be close and to feel that the team is getting better and better.”

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The last time Arsenal conceded a goal in a competition was against Newcastle United on September 28.

Nick Woltemade’s 33rd-minute header was followed by 687 minutes from different teams failing to add to the three goals scored against the Gunners in 2025/26. It’s been almost 11 and a half hours without the Arsenal net swelling.

If Arsenal can continue to pick up clean sheets like this for the rest of the season, they will certainly be in a great position to win the league. It only takes one goal for the Gunners to take all three points at the moment, with anything beyond that just a nice bonus.