Man City know they ‘have to be stronger’ as ‘none’ of the top three will ‘win every game’ from now

Rodri, Virgil van Dijk, Bukayo Saka

Manchester City midfielder Rodri has detailed how the side “have to be stronger” for the rest of the season, as “none” of them, Liverpool and Arsenal “will win every game” until the end of the campaign.

City have won the Premier League in five of the last six seasons. That shows that they know how to overcome adversity, as they tend to romp home to the title in the final straight, as Arsenal found the hard way last term after leading for most of it.

As such, for the Citizens, it won’t be a massive worry that they’re currently four points behind Liverpool, who top the table.

However, star midfielder Rodri has suggested that while the Reds and the Gunners – the two sides above City – will not be perfect between now and the end of the season, neither will the serial winners.

“There’s still a long way until the end of the season. We have to win against Brentford,” he told BBC Sport.

“We were on a very good run and we know none of us three [City, Liverpool and Arsenal] will win every game until the end. We have to have strong mentality and move on to the next one.”

That City know they must win their next game suggests they believe their rivals will also continue to put in good performances, and even though he does not believe they’ll all be won, Rodri thinks his side have to do better in their games.

“We have enough experience to know it’s just the beginning of the last part of the season. We want to win but we have to check ourselves and in the first half with our defending we have to be stronger for the rest of the season,” he added.

Indeed, the Spaniard felt the side should have put in a better performance as they were held to a 1-1 draw by 10th-placed Chelsea last time out, with the Blues leading for half of the game.

While City have had to deal with strong performances from Mauricio Pochettino’s side in both games they’ve faced them this season, they’ll expect to beat sides in a similar position to them in the league, and will be hopeful of doing so for the rest of the campaign, starting in the next game.