There is still a long way to go in the title fight, according to Manuel Akanji, whose Manchester City team travels to Bournemouth on Saturday.
Following our 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest last Saturday, the Gunners, who had previously taken the lead with a victory against Arsenal, were able to retake the top spot.
Pep Guardiola has forecast more twists and turns with 14 games left, and Akanji concurs with the manager’s view.
On the title race, the City defender remarked, “I feel pretty good, I feel confident.” “We are definitely two points behind Arsenal and have played one more game than they have, but there are still many games left and we still have to play them.
“We must win our games and put our attention on ourselves,”
The fourth of five straight-away games will be played at Bournemouth, while the FA Cup encounter against Bristol City will follow at 17:30 (UK).
It follows our 1-1 tie in the second leg of our Champions League match against RB Leipzig on March 14 at the Etihad Stadium.
As the Bundesliga team put up a spirited fight to equalize after Riyad Mahrez’s first-half goal was canceled out, Akanji thinks the outcome was a success.
The Swiss international stated, “It’s an away game in the knockout stage of the Champions League – it’s never going to be easy; it doesn’t matter whose side you face.”
“I believe we controlled the game and played pretty effectively with the ball in the first half. We had strong pushing and merited the goal, but the second half saw a slight shift in tactics, making things harder for us.
“We made a few errors. We were under more pressure from them, and our ball play was poor. We made it too easy to get it.
For the second game, we can improve on it. An extremely good team is Leipzig. We must evaluate what we did in order to perhaps get better for the next one.
“In the end, I believe the score is appropriately tied. Everything is up for grabs, the game is open, and I’m eager to play.
There won’t be any easy games domestically before that, according to Akanji, even though RB Leipzig will present another challenging test in the second leg.
He said, “The Premier League is more physical.” No matter whatever side you are playing, there is never an easy game. You must always play at your peak performance to avoid conceding goals.
“You have to be mentally and physically prepared for the aggression the other teams exhibit at all times.”