Pep Guardiola wary of Jamie Vardy's threat to Man City's Premier League title hopes

The champions can move a step closer to retaining their crown with victory on Monday at the Etihad Stadium

Pep Guardiola has his eyes on Manchester City maintaining their winning run against Leicester City. Getty

Pep Guardiola is wary of the threat of Jamie Vardy as Manchester City prepare to host Leicester City in what could prove to be defining clash in the Premier League title race on Monday.

With City's title battle with Liverpool going to the wire, Guardiola's men need to win at the Etihad Stadium to return to the top of the Premier League and retain control of their destiny.

They face a man in fine form in Leicester striker Vardy, who has taken his goal tally for the season to 18 with 11 strikes in his last 11 games.

Guardiola has also witnessed at first hand how dangerous Vardy can be. The former England forward claimed a hat-trick when Leicester overpowered City 4-2 at the King Power Stadium in Guardiola's first season in England in December 2016.

The City boss now feels Vardy is thriving under new manager Brendan Rodgers.

Guardiola said: "I think his career speaks for itself - not just the last few games - but lately he's scored every single game.

"He's done incredible in this league. He's an incredible striker with his movement, finishing, fighting.

"I think before they were a counter-attack team but now with Brendan Rodgers they have another way to play, and they can use that and control all parts of the game.

“In two months, everyone has played how he wants them to play – the movement and positioning is well-coordinated. I was really impressed with how the players play."

City will again be without Kevin De Bruyne, who has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury. Midfielder Fernandinho is a doubt with a knee problem.

Bernardo Silva said he and his teammates were not looking at the overall situation of the title fight and were only focused on getting the better of Leicester.

“We must keep playing and going in the same way. These are extremely difficult games, but we’ll certainly give our best to win," the Portuguese midfielder told City's website.

“We’ll maintain the same attitude and play the same way. We must keep a similar mindset that brought us here, the aim is to win and retain the title.”

Monday is City's last game at the Etihad Stadium of the season, with only the away match at Brighton and Hove Albion on May 12 and then the FA Cup final against Watford on May 18 left to be played.

The last chance to play in front of their home fans until August will also motivate the players, Silva added.

“We’re playing at home against Leicester and that’s very important – our fans will be there supporting us,” he said.

“We’ve now only two important games that we must win in order to retain the Premier League title – we need two more wins!”

Meanwhile, Leicester manager Rodgers believes his side had the personnel to cause City trouble.

Leicester defeated City on December 26, when the Midlands side were managed by Claude Puel, with Rodgers taking over in charge in March.

"We've got real speed in the team," he said. "You've got to be super compact as a team and tight. They're littered with world class players and world class players will always find the space.

"You've got to try and nullify the space and then you know that when you break through that pressure there's going to be space, and that's something this team are very, very good at."

Rodgers managed City's Raheem Sterling when he was at Liverpool and he is impressed with the Englishman's evolution.

“He’s taken his game now to a level where he clearly is one of the best players in the world," he said.

“He was someone who was going to do the work, he wasn’t just expecting it because of his incredible talent. This was a boy who looked after his body and his life to ensure that he could give himself every chance to do that."