I am not surprised by slump in Man City standards: Guardiola

Pep Guardiola says he is not surprised by a dip in Manchester City’s usual high standards this season despite his efforts to avoid complacency. City were dumped out of the League Cup by struggling Southampton on Wednesday and trail Arsenal by five points at the top of the Premier League.After the 2-0 quarter-final defeat at St Mary’s in midweek, midfielder Ilkay Gundogan blamed a lack of hunger from the English champions. "What happened didn’t surprise me,” Guardiola said on the eve of City’s trip to Manchester United in the Premier League today. "I tried to avoid it. "It happened and hopefully it won’t happen again but it’s happened because we did four Premier Leagues in five years. Sometimes you have to reset. This was our strength as a team in previous seasons but after back-to-back (titles) two times, this can happen. We were not ready to go there and be ourselves.”City face a huge week in the title race, with their visit to Old Trafford followed by a clash against Tottenham on Thursday, and Guardiola said he wanted a strong display from his team against their neighbours. "Of course, it’s an important week,” added the City boss. "After what happened at Southampton, the last thing I’m worried about is the titles or this kind of thing."It’s to recover who you are day, week, day, week, day, week, game by game. This is what we have to do. In important games this season, in the important ones, we were there - in all competitions.”City hammered United 6-3 earlier in the season but United have lost just once in 18 games since to close to within four points of Guardiola’s men in the table. "A new manager has arrived, many things have settled, and the improvement is clear, not just in terms of results but everything,” said Guardiola on the impact of Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford."I have the feeling every time I’ve been to Old Trafford or United came to the Etihad that it’s been a difficult game. They are always attractive games. Both teams try to win. There are a lot of quality players in both sides. It will be a good game.”

Arsenal relaxed ahead of Spurs clash, says Arteta

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says his players are in a "really good emotional state” ahead of tomorrow’s north London derby as they aim to avenge last season’s painful defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Arsenal went down 3-0 in May last year as they chased qualification for a top-four spot, with Spurs eventually finishing in the Champions League qualification places instead.Arteta said there were a lot of things to learn from that game. "We haven’t won there (at the new stadium), and that’s the challenge we have ahead of us,” he said. "We are in a different place. We have to show that playing the way we want to play.”The Spaniard, whose team beat Spurs 3-1 at the Emirates earlier this season, said his players were relaxed ahead of tomorrow’s clash. "I think the players are in a really good emotional state,” he said. "We are excited, we are enjoying playing together and we are in a good position. So we have to improve a lot of the things we still have to do, and we have to maintain the things that have taken us this far.”League leaders Arsenal, who are five points clear of defending champions Manchester City, have not won away at Spurs since 2014 - five years before their rivals moved into their new stadium. "Obviously the way we have performed and the results that we have got confidence-wise puts us in a good position,” he said. "But then it’s something that you have to show in every single match, every opponent and especially every away game brings big challenges and this is no different. We have to prove that we are good enough to go there, play our way and win the match.”Arteta admitted Arsenal were "trying to improve” the squad in the January transfer window but would not speak about Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhailo Mudryk at his pre-match press conference. Reports say a big-money deal for the 22-year-old is close. "We cannot talk about any other players,” said Arteta. "There is some interest in things we’d like to do to improve the team, because we are a bit short in certain areas with the injuries we’ve (picked up). We are trying as a club. We are determined to try to improve the team in every window and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Fixtures (1500 GMT unless stated)

Today: Man Utd v Man City (1230), Brighton v Liverpool, Everton v Southampton, Nottingham Forest v Leicester, Wolves v West Ham, Brentford v Bournemouth (1730)Tomorrow: Chelsea v Crystal Palace (1400), Newcastle v Fulham (1400), Tottenham v Arsenal (1630)