Manchester City can go a long way to securing a Champions League spot for next season with a win at Arsenal when the Premier League resumes after the international break, defender Bacary Sagna has said.
Sagna, who moved to City in 2014 after spending seven seasons with the London club, said leaders Chelsea were almost out of sight in the title race so it was imperative to focus on securing a top-four spot. Man City are third in the league, 12 points behind Chelsea, and they could extend their lead over sixth-placed Arsenal to 10 points with a win at the Emirates on April 2.
“We need to go to Arsenal and win the game because we want to be part of the Champions League again next season,” Sagna told reporters. “It’s going to be difficult to catch Chelsea — it’s maybe too far now — but we have to go and give a good performance, stick together and keep working hard.
Arsenal have lost four of their last six games in all competitions, including a 10-2 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League last 16, but Sagna expected them to regroup and come back stronger after the international break. “Of course they (Arsenal) are disappointed because of the results, anyone would be with what’s happened on the pitch,” the 34-year-old French international added.
“But they have quality players, players who can react, players who are part of the Champions League every season. They can beat anyone. They remain good players. “They will come back fresh; they’ll have two weeks to think about their national teams and to reflect on the way they want to end the season, so they are going to be strong.” Man City also plays Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-finals on April 23.
City are 12 points off leaders Chelsea with 10 games remaining, having kept seven clean sheets less than the Blues and won just half of their home games. Here’s what Paul Merson, Phil Thompson, Matt Le Tissier and Charlie Nicholas think they need to improve… Merse says…
The Premier League is a hard league and there’s not 15-20 gimmes like in Spain, so he needs to look at that and adapt his side. They need full-backs to defend. As a team they’re as good as anybody going forward but what Gael Clichy did to give away the penalty against Liverpool is as poor as you’ll see. They can certainly improve in the centre-back, holding midfield and goalkeeper departments as well, so there’s a lot to do in the summer.
