Though Man City have recently overtaken Arsenal at the Premier League summit and also have a game in hand over the Gunners, it’s highly unlikely that Pep Guardiola will let his side rest on their laurels.
Any slip ups between now and the end of the campaign gives Mikel Arteta’s side another glimmer of hope, which is something that they don’t have at this moment given the loss of six points in three games which was enough to let in City.
At the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night, the hosts will take on David Moyes’ West Ham side, and the east Londoners have found a little bit of recent form in the English top-flight, the result against Liverpool notwithstanding.
Four points above the relegation zone is still a little bit too close for comfort for the Hammers, so three albeit unlikely points would give Moyes some room to breathe and throw some life back into the title race at the same time.
His challenge might have just taken a more positive turn with the news that one major Man City star may not be available for the Premier League fixture.
“Nathan (Ake) yesterday trained with us, he feels good,” Guardiola was quoted as saying at his pre-match press conference, detailed by Manchester World.
“Kevin (De Bruyne) has started to move but didn’t train with the team. We have training in a few hours and we will see.”
If there are any doubts about the Belgian, then Pep would be better served in resting him until the weekend at least, because he can’t risk losing the midfielder for their Champions League semi-final games against Real Madrid and any more Premier League matches.