Pep Guardiola has reiterated the scale of the task facing his team as he said it would be hard to imagine beating an "extraordinary" Arsenal team twice in a matter of weeks.

Yet that is Manchester City's goal ahead of Sunday's meeting with the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium.

Arsenal's shock home defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday handed City a chance to make matters extremely interesting in the Premier League title race, and Guardiola's team obliged by beating Chelsea 3-0.

It left them six points behind Mikel Arteta's side, who City beat in the EFL Cup final on March 22, with a game in hand.

Should City beat Arsenal, then the gap will be down to three points, with City still having that extra match left to play.

But Guardiola is not underestimating the challenge City are facing.

"I know how difficult it is. They've won all the games except one, which they drew," Guardiola told Sky Sports.

"Playing the EFL Cup with Man City completely as underdogs – there was not one person in the country who bet £1 on us – that's much better.

"Now it will be a bit different. At home, City on top form, but the respect I have for Arsenal [and] what they've done in the last two or three years.

"How they compete in every circumstance. That will be the biggest job that we have to work in our heads. But [Arsenal] have been the best team in this country and Europe so far today. 

"Beating Arsenal once is so difficult; imagine beating them twice in a few weeks. So we have to rest, prepare and read exactly what we have to do. But I would like to say to my fans: respect Arsenal a lot. They're an extraordinary team.

"It's not naive, it's not to make them feel something that they are not."

When playing within their final 10 games across the last five Premier League seasons (since 2021-22), City have lost just one of 43 matches, winning 32 times (D10).

In fact, City have lost just one of their last 19 Premier League games (W12 D6) and are unbeaten in their last nine (W6 D3), their joint-longest unbeaten streak of the campaign.

Opta's supercomputer still makes Arsenal favourites to win the title, however, with City's chances ranked at 12.7%.

"Arsenal is a final," Guardiola told reporters.

"The past was something unique, but we are growing. We have long weeks now we are out of Champions League, but we are more fresh and in training, everyone knows exactly what they have to do."