Pep Guardiola’s side travel to Stamford Bridge on Thursday night (Picture: Getty)

Pep Guardiola has begun mind games with Premier League title rivals Arsenal and says his Manchester City side might ‘play s*** tomorrow’ versus Chelsea.

City have won four of the last five Premier League titles but are eight points behind the Gunners with a game in hand.

Guardiola’s side travel to Stamford Bridge on Thursday night to take on a Chelsea team who are all the way down in 10th in the table.

The Spaniard openly admitted he watched Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Newcastle United on Tuesday night and that he is hoping their performance levels drop.

‘The way [Arsenal] played against Newcastle again impressed me a lot,’ Guardiola said.

‘They dropped two points but they didn’t drop the quality [with which] they played.

‘We have to be almost perfect, I would say, from here to the end of the season and hope they drop a little bit in their performance.

‘But, at the same time, I see the way we played the last games, and the feeling is good. Maybe we’ll play s*** tomorrow but the feeling is good.

‘My target always as a manager is to try to be yourself and be better than the opponent, and after if you concede one shot and they score and we can’t score, you have to accept it and move forward.

‘What I want to see is us still fight, don’t give up, not now, until the last chance, until the last drop of water we can fight to win the Premier League, and the moment we are not able to win the Premier League we have to be ready to compete next season.’

He added: ‘Maybe it’s an advantage for the fact that… I don’t know how many years that [Arsenal] haven’t won the Premier League.

‘The advantage of Arsenal and Manchester United right now is nobody has to win the Premier League for 20 points ahead in November like Manchester City has to – and this is sometimes a big problem.

‘People say, ‘Ah, yes, you are…’ Yes, we are, but with Arsenal winning all their games and you are seven or eight points behind… [Arsenal winning the title] can happen.’

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‘I hope [Arsenal] drop a little bit in their performance…’