A more consistent City will catch up, says Pep

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola insists they are far from finished in the English Premier League title race, offering a wry take on the narrative surrounding his side's campaign ahead of their trip to Aston Villa on Oct 26.

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City - who won six league titles in seven years before finishing third last season - in third trail leaders Arsenal by three points after eight games, and Guardiola poked fun at the pundits' early-season criticism.

"In the first two, three games we were done and now it looks like Liverpool (who are third after three consecutive losses) are done," he said, tongue in cheek. "I'll tell you that we will be back.

"I've said many times that the pundits, the specialists, the former footballers know what's going to happen after five games - I'm not able to do that."

City are unbeaten in their past nine games in all competitions since suffering back-to-back Premier League defeats by Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion in August.