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• Guardiola: It is a 'dream come true' to be fighting for Premier League title again

  Pep Guardiola says it is a "dream come true" to be fighting for the Premier League title once again as his Manchester City side prepare to take on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Sunday.

  City head into this weekend in second, one point behind leaders Arsenal with a game in hand as Liverpool continue to falter. The Gunners play before Guardiola's men on Sunday, travelling to take on fierce rivals Tottenham, and any slip-up could allow City to move top of the table.

  City are on the hunt for a sixth Premier League title in seven seasons, and though Guardiola's men have been in the fight at the summit so often in recent times, the chance to win top-flight silverware again has not lost its appeal.

  "Of course, all the teams in the [title race] are tired," Guardiola told reporters. "It's normal at the end of the season.

  "But at the same time, it's so exciting. Fighting again for the Premier League? It's a dream come true.

  "I could not expect it, honestly. I know always you dream to be there."

  At the other end of the table, Forest are fighting for their Premier League lives, a battle not aided by dubious officiating decisions in the 2-0 defeat at Everton last weekend.

  The controversial loss leaves Forest heading into their tough fixture this weekend just a point above the drop zone with four games to play.

  In his pre-match press conference for the City game, Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo was still fuming about the refereeing against the Toffees, saying: "I still can’t quite believe how the decisions went against us.

  "It has a big impact as it eventually means points, it means frustration and disappointment. It feels like it’s always against us."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Nottingham Forest – Morgan Gibbs-White

  Gibbs-White has been involved in four goals in his last three Premier League home games (two goals, two assists). Indeed, since Forest's return to the top-flight last season, Gibbs-White has been involved in 19 goals at the City Ground, at least eight more than any other player (eight goals, 11 assists). City will have to keep a watchful eye on the former Wolves man.

  Manchester City – Phil Foden

  It had already been Foden's best league scoring season of his career before the City youth product netted his 15th and 16th Premier League goals of the campaign to help his side to a 4-0 victory at Brighton on Thursday. He has been absolutely crucial for City this term, and he could be the man to help unlock the Forest door this weekend for another huge three points in the title race.

  MATCH PREDICTION – MAN CITY WIN

  City are looking to complete their first league double over Forest since the 1999-00 campaign in the second tier, and their first in the top-flight since 1990-91.

  However, Forest have lost just three of their last 16 top-flight home games against City (10 wins, three draws), going down 2-0 in 1985, 3-1 in 1990 and 2-0 in 1993.

  They have been strong at home of late, too, unbeaten in their last three at the City Ground despite winning just one of their last nine Premier League outings.

  It will have to be an almighty effort to topple City, however, especially considering Forest have kept just one clean sheet in their last 23 Premier League games, with that coming via a 2-0 win over West Ham in February.

  City have lost both of their Premier League games in the Midlands so far this season, going down 2-1 at Wolves and 1-0 at Aston Villa. However, they last lost three consecutive such visits to the Midlands between March and December 2008, and with the title on the line, it is hard to see past them as strong favourites to pick up the three points on Sunday.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Forest: 10.8%

  Man City: 69.3%

  Draw: 19.9%

• Las Palmas 0-2 Girona: Michel's men close in on Champions League dream

  It was a tale of three penalties as Girona went second in LaLiga with a 2-0 win over Las Palmas on Saturday, edging closer to a Champions League place for next season.

  Artem Dovbyk made sure of the win from the spot in the second half, after David Lopez had put them in front in the 26th minute.

  Lopez was on hand to blast into the roof of the net after Alvaro Valles saved Dovbyk's first penalty of the game, conceded by Las Palmas captain Kirian Rodriguez.

  Las Palmas had earlier squandered a spot-kick of their own, with Paulo Gazzaniga springing to his right to push Sandro Ramirez's strike away.

  Girona now possess a 13-point buffer to fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao, who have just 18 points to play for, so it appears a mere matter of time before Michel's side secure Champions League qualification.

  Data Debrief: Dovbyk in fine company

  Dovbyk wasn't deterred after seeing his first-half penalty saved, his second attempt from 12 yards finding the bottom-right corner to make the points safe for Girona.

  He has now scored 19 goals in just 31 appearances in LaLiga. Only four players have previously reached that figure in fewer outings in the competition – Cristiano Ronaldo (23), Radamel Falcao (24), Robert Lewandowski (28) and Julio Baptista (29).

   

• Arteta wants to prove supercomputer wrong as Arsenal prepare for derby test

  Mikel Arteta is looking to prove the Opta supercomputer wrong as Arsenal prepare for perhaps the biggest test of their Premier League title credentials, in Sunday's North London derby at Tottenham.

  Arsenal began the weekend one point clear of Manchester City at the top of the table, though Pep Guardiola's men have a game in hand and have been in ominous form lately, winning their last four league matches. 

  Five wins for City will ensure they retain their crown, and according to the Opta supercomputer, the champions started the weekend with a 71.7% chance of topping the pile, compared to 26.6% for Arsenal and just 1.7% for Liverpool.

  Arteta hopes to see Arsenal's figure boosted by a derby win, saying: "I don't know what to say, hopefully we can trick that computer and make it a bit higher! 

  "Maybe it needs to update the software, we need to help it or give it more tools. Hopefully we can change that!

  "We are there. We have to look at ourselves and try to perform in the best possible way to win our matches and I can't wait to see what happens.

  "We had a big win in the last London derby against Chelsea and now we have another big one. I'm sure if we're going to win the league, we're going to have to beat Spurs as well."

  Tottenham, meanwhile, need points if they are to overhaul Aston Villa in the battle for Champions League qualification, with fifth place now extremely unlikely to be enough.

  Ange Postecoglou, though, is more interested in seeing how Spurs measure up to a side they hope to challenge in the future.

  "We understand the importance of the game but ultimately, it's still about us measuring ourselves against the teams we want to be challenging on a more consistent basis," Postecoglou said.

  "It's a great opportunity to do that on Sunday."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Tottenham – Son Heung-min 

  Son scored twice for Spurs in the reverse fixture against Arsenal in September – a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium. In all competitions, only five players have scored more goals in the fixture's history than Son's seven. 

  The only player to score multiple goals in both north London derby matches in a league season was Arsenal's Ted Drake, who did so back in 1934-35.

  Arsenal – Martin Odegaard 

  Odegaard has been involved in six goals in his last six away appearances in the Premier League, scoring three and assisting three.

  The Gunners captain was in mesmerising form in Tuesday's 5-0 win over Chelsea, leading all players on the pitch for assists (two), chances created (eight), passes into the final third (34) and duels won (eight). A repeat performance would be huge for the visitors' title hopes.

  MATCH PREDICTION – ARSENAL WIN

  Tottenham have won just one of their last six Premier League games against Arsenal (one draw, four defeats), with their four losses in this span as many as they had suffered in their previous 16 against the Gunners (six wins, six draws).

  They also lost this exact fixture 2-0 last season, meaning the Gunners could win on back-to-back league trips to Tottenham for the first time since enjoying a run of three victories there between 1987 and 1988.

  Arteta's men know there is no margin for error with the title race in City's hands.

  Even a draw could prove fatal to their hopes – at the end of the 2015-16 season, the North London derby was the most drawn fixture in Premier League history, with 20 of 48 meetings finishing level (42 per cent). Since then, only four matches between these rivals have seen the points shared (27 per cent).

  Arsenal have kept six straight clean sheets on their travels in the Premier League, with only two teams ever keeping seven in a row – Chelsea from September to December 2008 and Manchester United from November to February in 2008-09. The Gunners should have enough to grind out a huge win.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Tottenham – 31%

  Arsenal – 41.3% 

  Draw – 27.7%