EPL 2021-22: After Tottenham shocker, Guardiola admits tough title race between City-Liverpool

Manchester City suffered a 2-3 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in 2021-22 EPL. The club is barely six points ahead. Pep Guardiola feels that the race for the title against Liverpool will be tough.

It turned out to be a shocker on Saturday during Gameweek 26 of the English Premier League (EPL) 2021-22. Defending champion Manchester City suffered a shocking 2-3 loss to seventh-placed Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. As a result, the hosts remain on top, barely six points clear of second-placed Liverpool, which has played a game less.

Among the goal-scorers were Dejan Kulusevski (4) and Harry Kane (59 and 90+5) for Spurs, while for Cityzens, Ilkay Gündogan (33) and Riyad Mahrez (90+2) found the back of the net. Also, The Reds managed to win its game against Norwich 2-1, which did not aid the cause for the champion. Meanwhile, City head coach Pep Guardiola has admitted that the title race will be tough against Liverpool.

“It’s difficult when they defend so deep. We had the chance to arrive and score. Unfortunately, we cannot score. They are clinical. They have Kane and Son and Kulusevski. Their crosses we could not defend. We didn’t have the momentum. We didn’t need to lose a game already to know how hard it was. There are many, many games still to play,” Guardiola told Sky Sports following the loss.

In the meantime, despite the win, Tottenham manager Antonio Conte was unnerved during the post-match press conference on being asked about the reports of his rift with club chairman Daniel Levy. “I don’t understand why someone wants to try to create a problem with me,” he told reporters after the win.

“I read stories in the past about this club, and it creates a problem with the coach and the chairman and the club. The chairman knows very well my thoughts. If I have to speak with him, I go to speak with him. Sorry, but I was a bit disturbed by this situation, especially because I had an interview with the Italian media,” Conte added.

“I always said I’m enjoying my time with Tottenham, enjoying working with these players. I always said this. Then we have four months at the end of this season, and we have to try to do our best to finish in the best place possible in this league. And then we’ll see,” Conte concluded.