Pep Guardiola has dismissed Liverpool head coach Arne Slot’s assertion that playing entertaining football is more important than winning trophies, insisting that “if you want to be a manager it is better to win trophies, always.”
Manchester City travel to Anfield on Sunday to face their long-time rivals in the Premier League, with Arsenal holding a six-point lead at the top and City running out of margin for error.
At the start of the season, Liverpool would have expected to be firmly in contention to retain their crown.
Instead, they sit in sixth place, 14 points behind leaders Arsenal.
Earlier this week, Slot made headlines by saying he would rather see Liverpool play good football than lead them to more trophy wins, BeiN Sports reports on Saturday.
Guardiola, whose proactive, possession-based style has helped City lift six Premier League titles, four domestic cups, and their first Champions League trophy in the last decade, emphasized the balance between style and success. Asked if he agreed with Slot at Friday’s pre-match press conference, he said:
“You do not always have the chance to play nice football. I think everything is related, because as a manager when you win you almost always play well. You want your players to win it in the best way for the players you have, to play the way that, in your soul, you believe in. I do think this is the most important thing.”
City’s title prospects appear slim according to the Opta supercomputer, which gives them a 5.7% chance of claiming their seventh Premier League crown under Guardiola, while 91.2% of simulations favor Arsenal lifting the trophy.
Aside from a year-long sabbatical after leaving Barcelona in 2012, Guardiola has never endured back-to-back seasons without a league title.
When asked whether winning the league is getting tougher each year, Guardiola said: “Every season it is getting more difficult, but I think not just for us, for all the teams.”
Despite winning just one of six Premier League games in 2026 — drawing four and losing one — Guardiola remains confident in his team’s progress:
“Are we at the top, top, top level? Not yet. We are improving in moments, we just need some more consistency, then we will be there. So there are 14 games left, in the Premier League, this is an eternity.
“In my experience, it’s a lot and anything can happen. Last season in the Premier League we were miles away from Liverpool, so let’s see if we will be there.”
Sunday’s clash at Anfield will provide a key measure of City’s form as they aim to close the gap on Arsenal and challenge for a seventh Premier League title under Guardiola.
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