The attacker is expecting a tough title race in the 2021/22 season but believes his team is ready
Manchester City star Riyad Mahrez believes Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur will be among the teams challenging for the Premier League title.
The Algeria attacker played a vital role to steer the Citizens to the title last season but is expecting even a tougher campaign this time around.
The former Leicester City star has further insisted the Man City squad were all recruited because manager Pep Guardiola believes they have the right mentality.
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“A normal human being always becomes complacent when you start winning things,” Mahrez said as quoted by ManchesterEveningNews.
“That is human nature. We are here because the club chose us – they think we have the right mentality. The manager pushes us every day, every season. He never takes it easy.
“Every season they say it’s going to be tighter and tighter and this season it will be, to be fair. This season will be tough, Chelsea are very good – Liverpool, [Manchester] United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Leicester too. We are ready.”
Mahrez was also part of the team that fell to Chelsea by a solitary goal in the Champions League final. He believes they deserved to win the trophy and went on to explain how the defeat impacted the team.
“We will take more confidence into Europe. We showed how good we are [last season] but that is no guarantee this year,” Mahrez continued.
“We deserved to win it. With the team we have and the football we were playing, we didn’t deserve to lose. I don’t think anyone spoke afterward. Everyone was very sad. It was difficult to speak about anything.”
The Manchester-based charges started their season with a Community Shield loss to Leicester City last weekend, when former player Kelechi Iheanacho’s late penalty sealed the win for the Foxes.
They will be kicking off their Premier League title defence on Sunday when they travel to North London to play Spurs.
Guardiola’s charges lost 2-0 the last time they played against the North Londoners in a league assignment.
