Pep Guardiola has warned his players they must expect to ‘suffer’ against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday night.
Pep Guardiola said: “It is so difficult. To have 20 wins in this period, I think this could be the greatest achievement we have done. It doesn’t mean we have won the title of course, but in winter time in England, every three days a game, COVID-19 situation, injuries… winning, winning, winning shows strength, mentally. Teams create problems for us. Mentally it’s tough because we play many games every three days. People start to be tired. We play Tuesday and then we will have two days off before United to have a rest from each other. We must rest mentally and physically. If not, you cannot sustain it, but the big teams have to do it. From tomorrow, we look to Wolves and in past years we suffered against them. Now we prepare Wolves – we don’t have time to rest. I assure you right now, the game we will play on Tuesday will be similar to the game today. Tight result, we will suffer a lot, we need to be mentally strong and not give up for 95 minutes. That will help us win. If we don’t, we will draw or lose.”
Manchester City’s opponents have been the ones who have been suffering recently, with West Ham the latest – and 20th successive – side to lose to Guardiola’s relentless team. Even with what is currently a ten-point lead at the top of the table Guardiola is not resting on his laurels.