Pep Guardiola brushes aside talk of Man City records to focus on West Ham

Pep Guardiola is not interested in records as Manchester City chase a 20th successive win in all competitions on Saturday.

The Premier League leaders’ current winning run is widely considered to be a record for an English top-flight side.

This record, however, does not include wins secured by penalty shoot-outs.

If penalties were taken into account, City’s record winning sequence would actually be the 20 in succession they chalked up in the 2017-18 season.

They therefore have a chance to equal that mark as they host West Ham at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, but manager Guardiola is paying no attention to the statistics.

“The challenge is not to win 20 or 21, the challenge is to beat West Ham,” said the City boss at his pre-match press conference.

“This is the only challenge that we have. The results are a consequence of what we do day by day.”

Guardiola also brushed off a lot of the praise for his side’s dominant performance as they beat Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League in midweek.

He said: “It is what it is. When you win you are a genius and when you lose you are a disaster. I don’t listen much.”

Kevin De Bruyne, who has only recently returned to action after injury, was an unused substitute for that game but Guardiola says he is ready to play.

He said: “He’s fully fit. He was fully fit against Gladbach as well. I’m not going to say any different as to how key and important a player he is for us. In the last part of the season he will be so important.”

West Ham are currently fourth in the Premier League and Guardiola has been impressed by their progress this season.

He said: “They are in a Champions League position. That is not (just) a good run – it is many months and they are there.

“It means how strong they are. ”

Guardiola is also an admirer of Hammers boss David Moyes, the veteran former Everton, Manchester United and Sunderland manager.

He said: “I admire this type of person like (Roy) Hodgson. They have incredibly long careers. I would love to have these careers for many years and the passion to do the job.

“I cannot forget my first game in the Premier League was against Sunderland and he was the manager there. He was so kind to me, he gave me some advice about the Premier League.”

Asked what that advice was, Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference: “Try to buy the best wine as possible to invite the manager when you win the game!”