Man City players notice a welcome Arsenal difference in title race

Manchester City players are more composed watching Arsenal in this season's title race knowing they are still in control.

City travelled to Nottingham Forest last February having just beaten Arsenal at the Emirates to top the table, but having watched from the away dressing room as the Gunners came from behind to beat Aston Villa they then squandered a lead at Forest to be forced into chasing again. It would be the end of April before they would retake the lead.

Having watched Arsenal beat Spurs in the North London derby on the coach into the City Ground on Sunday, there would be no slips from the reigning Premier League champions this time as Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland gave them a 2-0 win. While they remain a point behind Mikel Arteta's side owing to having played one game fewer, defender Nathan Ake spoke about the added clarity in the squad at the moment.

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“For me it doesn’t matter really. It’s in our hands so we’re not depending on what they do," he said. "That’s the difference from last year, we were still depending on what they were doing. This season it’s in our hands. We know if we win the next four we are champions. The only thing we have to do is focus on the next one.

"Obviously it would be nice if they dropped some points. We focus on ourselves and it’s in our hands. That’s the only thing we can focus on.

"It’s about now, what we do now. At the moment it’s going well but we know what we have to do in the end — win four games and we can be champions again.”

City were without