The acrimonious ending to last weekend’s draw at the Etihad leaves the title race delicately poised between two bitter rivals

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.