Guardiola warns Man City of 'dentist' trip to Bournemouth in title race

Pep Guardiola has warned Manchester City that Tuesday’s trip to Bournemouth will be like visiting the dentist as he prepares for a game that will shape the destiny of the Premier League title.

Bournemouth are sixth, four points behind Liverpool with a game in hand, and pushing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time. They are unbeaten in 16 league matches.

Bournemouth have had more than a week to prepare, whereas City were last in action on Saturday, beating Chelsea in the FA Cup final. Guardiola likened the challenge to going to the dentist.

“I often use it as an analogy for how difficult it is,” the manager said. He outlined what makes Andoni Iraola’s team so hard to play against. “They don’t let you breathe. When a team is so intense, always when fatigue comes due to the amount of games, they can reduce this tempo a little bit, but with 10 days to prepare, I expect an intense team.”

Guardiola hopes City’s results against Bournemouth, then at home to Aston Villa on the final day, will take the title. Arsenal finish their Premier League campaign at Crystal Palace.

“I wouldn’t say Aston Villa is easy – in fact completely the opposite – but we would love it if on Sunday our people can come at 3pm and maybe what happens at Selhurst Park will be nice,” Guardiola said. “So we will try to extend it and keep the hope that we can win the Premier League again.”

The Etihad Stadium’s expanded North Stand will be open for a first time for Villa’s visit. With Saturday’s Cup win providing Guardiola’s 17th major trophy in his decade leading City, he was asked about suggestions a stand ay be named after him.

“They don’t have to do anything,” he said. “The important thing is when you are an old grandfather, you can laugh at the memories.”