City, chasing a fifth Premier League title in six years, are on 70 points, three behind Arsenal with eight games left – the Gunners play West Ham on Sunday.
The two teams meet in City’s next league fixture – a potential title-decider – at the Etihad on 26 April.
“As I said recently, it is win, win and win,” said Guardiola, whose team has now won 10 games in a row in all competitions.
“He’s had an incredible run this season and I don’t think he’s going to drop many points, so that’s what we have to do.
“It was important for us to win today in order to reach the ‘final’ in the next Premier League game against them.”