Guardiola: Man City will face difficult opponents in January.

Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola, has admitted they cannot afford to lose any further ground on Premier League leaders Arsenal.

The Gunners hold an eight-point advantage over the champions.

City travel to Leeds on Wednesday night, with Guardiola’s side having been overtaken in second place by Newcastle. Guardiola claimed City have a “terrible” schedule in January, with games against Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and Wolves in the league.

City also take on Chelsea in the FA Cup and Southampton in the EFL Cup, with Guardiola’s side facing six fixtures in 18 days. Against that backdrop, Guardiola admitted there is no margin for error in City’s pursuit of Mikel Arteta’s table-topping Gunners, who have shown no signs of folding.

“After our defeat against Brentford and with how strong Arsenal are, as well as the opponents who come from behind, we have to be alert and careful,” said Guardiola. “If the distance is bigger, it will be so difficult to catch them.

“We have Leeds and then it’s non-stop. Our schedule in January is terrible in terms of the amount of games and the quality of the opponents. So, we have to restart. This is what we did against Liverpool [in the EFL Cup] and hopefully we can continue.”