Guardiola makes Chelsea Premier League title prediction ahead of Man City clash
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola believes Chelsea will be fighting for the Premier League title "sooner or later" despite the Blues' mixed start to the season.
Mauricio Pochettino's side have picked up just 15 points from their opening 11 matches but did record an impressive 4-1 victory over then-unbeaten Tottenham last Monday. In fact, Chelsea have lost just one of their last seven games in all competitions - a 1-0 defeat against Brentford last month.
Results have matched some of the performances of late and the tide is beginning to turn at Stamford Bridge - almost six months since Pochettino's appointment in the summer. After finishing down in 12th last season, many were unsure about how Chelsea would bounce back under the ex-Spurs manager.
Although it hasn't been the perfect start, Guardiola has backed Chelsea to be challenging for trophies in the near future, admitting they are "one of the strongest teams".
"The achievement is what we have done, not the other clubs," Guardiola said. "Chelsea are one of the most important teams in England, they won the CL with Tuchel against us. It's one of the strongest teams, no doubts about that.
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"They have a good spirit, aggressive, good patterns, it's one of the toughest games we have in the season but still, we go there optimistic. We are top of the league right now and we have to try and maintain the quality of the game. But sooner or later Chelsea will be fighting for the title, no doubt about that."
Chelsea go head-to-head against City in the Premier League on Sunday - a fixture in which Guardiola's men won 1-0 back in January thanks to Riyad Mahrez's second-half strike.
Mauricio Pochettino has endured a mixed start to life at Chelsea (Getty Images)Guardiola added: "Again, any comment about Chelsea, I'm not there but always we remind ourselves, last day we qualify it's normal, celebrate. I said to the players to celebrate because one day maybe we won't be there.
"If we stop doing what we do or the opponents are better than us, we won't be there. What you did in the past doesn't mean you can't go down, and the down is always there. If you are aware of that you are closer to being consistent in Europe for many years."
Meanwhile, Pochettino also praised his opponents. He said: "Of course it’s going to be a challenge. We need to compete and even then we know it is going to be tough, but we are going to go and try to compete our best. What we want is to win the three points, that’s what is important for us.
"They dominate English football because they deserve to. It’s the reality, we cannot say otherwise. They are on the top and they are the team that you want to beat and challenge because they are showing great quality. All the other teams try to compete with them but they are doing everything really well.
"For sure it is going to be our objective in the future to be ahead of everyone and try to win the Premier League. Now we need to be clever and smart and try to challenge them and try to be in the place that they are now. We are all fighting to try to be in their place."
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