Guardiola hopes to put pressure on title rivals with a victory.

The 36th round of the 2025/26 Premier League season will feature a key match as Manchester City hosts Brentford at the Etihad Stadium. Manager Pep Guardiola stated in a press conference that he hopes fans will come to the stadium to support his team and aims to put pressure on title rivals Arsenal with a victory.

In the previous round's key match, Manchester City secured a 3-3 draw against Everton thanks to a brace from Doku and a goal from Haaland. After three wins and two draws in their last five matches, Manchester City currently sits in second place in the standings with 71 points, five points behind leaders Arsenal, but still holds the advantage of having played one game less.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said, "It's been a long time since we last played Arsenal at home. I love playing at home and I hope our fans can come to the stadium and put pressure on Arsenal by helping us win the game. That's the only thing we can do."

When discussing Doku's performance and goal-scoring efficiency, Guardiola jokingly said, "Of course it's because of the manager, always. When the players play well, it's the manager's credit. If they play poorly, it's the players' own problem."

“I’m very happy that Doku has taken this step and is beginning to understand that a winger not only needs to make one-on-one breakthroughs, but also needs to score goals and create an impact. Not just goals and assists, but also his contributions on the defensive end. Doku’s performance this season has been amazing, truly outstanding.”

Reflecting on the previous performance against Everton, Guardiola said, "Even when we were down 1-3, the game wasn't over. We then rallied to make it 3-3, and we kept trying. We made some mistakes, which is why we couldn't beat Everton. This happened many times last season; we conceded goals easily, but this season our performance has been more consistent."

“In that situation, we did our best, but the few goals we conceded were too easy for them.”

Furthermore, Guardiola stated, "Even experienced players make mistakes, but for Gue, Huzanov, Donnarumma, and Semenio, this is their first real title race. And that feeling of 'we absolutely cannot lose' is something that sometimes requires time to experience and learn."

"However, we are still in the competition. The team has performed very well so far this season. Now, let's win this game first, and then see what happens before looking to the future."

Image source: Internet