Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has insisted that he will take the season game by game rather than focusing on retaining the Premier League title.

City broke a plethora of records on their way to the title last term, scoring more goals, amassing more points and finishing further clear of second place than any other team in Premier League history.

The club are hot favourites to become the first to retain the title in a decade, but Guardiola stressed that his sole focus is on Sunday's season opener against Arsenal.

"The target is to win on Sunday and then, after that, [against] Huddersfield and then Wolves. At the end we will see our level. I am focused on that, not focused on back-to-back [titles]," Guardiola told reporters.

"Winning is the best motivation and we will try to continue what we have done. Last season we were so happy. Why not try it again? If we play good and we are consistent we have a chance to repeat the Premier League. If we don't we are not going to win.

"The [players] show me in two seasons, especially the last one, we can trust them. We believe we have a good squad. I like to work with these guys, I enjoy it. It's excellent. They are excellent human beings. I like playing with them. The results I don't know, but the process of being together is nice."

City beat Arsenal on all three occasions they faced each other last season.