According to Pep Guardiola, Manchester City ’s rivals want the club “wiped off the face of the Earth.” Everyone, he says, wants City to be punished in a way no Premier League club has ever been punished before. And, though he doesn’t mention Arsenal by name, it doesn’t feel like a wild stab in the dark to suspect they are uppermost in his thinking.

The news that a Rodri knee injury will end his seasom marred the hard-fought and dramatic Manchester City-Arsenal clash on Sunday.

Arsenal will feel aggrieved not to leave Manchester with all three points, but their hard-fought draw showed City that their title quest is for real.