LONDON – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will not be thinking about anything else besides going top of the English Premier League on April 13, when his side host Luton Town in a match they cannot afford to even draw.
City remain on track to retain the treble, but they are part of a thrilling and highly competitive three-way battle for the Premier League title with leaders Arsenal and Liverpool.
With their rivals not playing until April 14, Guardiola’s third-placed team – who are one point behind the Gunners and the Reds – know they must take advantage of the situation when they face lowly Luton at the Etihad Stadium.
There are distractions and issues about fatigue, however.
City are returning to league action following a 3-3 Champions League quarter-final, first-leg away draw with Real Madrid in midweek, while they will also face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals later in April.
When asked on April 12 if it is difficult to focus on playing Luton in the midst of their two Champions League fixtures with Real, Guardiola brushed it off and insisted his team have a clear mind of what is at stake.
“We have to (focus), the Premier League is so important,” he said. “We’ve been fighting for the title, we know what position we are in.”
Focus is key, but so is fitness. Key midfielder Rodri pleaded after the Real draw for a rest and Guardiola admitted that is indeed a major area of concern for his squad.
“Take a look at our games and you realise. It is simple. He is so important for the quality he gives us. But if you have a player who doesn’t want to play, he won’t play,” he said.
“I need to rest the centre-halves also... We are in big, big trouble. I had the feeling we were tired in the last games. We will decide tomorrow what we have to do.”
Luton are a far cry from Real, so despite the fatigue Guardiola will find it relatively easier to clinch a win, especially since his side already beat them 6-2 in the FA Cup in February with star striker Erling Haaland scoring five goals.
In the Premier League, a 2-1 win at Luton in December kicked off City’s current 16-game unbeaten streak, which consists of 12 wins and four draws.
It will be a major upset if Guardiola’s men do not win at home, where they have not lost any of their last 40 games in all competitions – two short of their club record.
The City boss could, however, be without the in-form Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake due to fitness issues.
But that is nothing compared to Luton’s long injury list of Tom Lockyer, Marvelous Nakamba, Jacob Brown, Elijah Adebayo, Amari’i Bell, Chiedozie Ogbene, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Dan Potts and Mads Andersen.
Manager Rob Edwards will hope that there will at least be some momentum after they ended their 10-match winless league run last week when they defeated Bournemouth 2-1.
The Hatters are languishing in 18th in the standings, but are level on points with 17th-placed Nottingham Forest.
Edwards has conceded that he “will probably start losing sleep about Manchester City and trying to think about how to stop them”, well aware that his side are huge underdogs even if they have all their players back from injury.
“Clearly it is going to be difficult against City away, but we will go there with a plan and try and compete like we have in every single game,” he added.
“We know how difficult that is and what they’re fighting for. We’re going to just go into every game and try our best and try to win it. Hopefully we get some bodies back as well in the next few weeks.”
