Phil Foden and John Stones believe Manchester City will have to take maximum points in their remaining games this season to hold off Liverpool’s title challenge.
Foden scored the winner as City bounced back from their defeat to Tottenham last weekend with a 1-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park.
Pep Guardiola’s side were made to battle for their three points, with the winner only coming in the 82nd minute, while they also survived a controversial VAR decision as the hosts were denied a penalty when the ball struck Rodri on the arm.
But the win means City have regained their six-point advantage over their nearest challengers, with Liverpool without a league game this weekend as they take on Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final today (Sunday).
The title race could well come down to the clash between the two sides at the Etihad in April, although City’s destiny is firmly in their own hands as they lead the way in their search for a second consecutive Premier League crown.
"We have to win every game from now on, in every competition, we set ourselves that standard," Stones told City’s website.
"We are not happy with ourselves to say the least when it doesn’t come off, but from now on we have to try and focus on every game."
Foden added: "We knew it before the season that if we were going to get in this position that we would never win by a lot of points, we always knew Liverpool would be there.
"As John said, we are going to have to try to take maximum points now because they can definitely go on big runs like us until the end of the season."
Reflecting on the win over Everton, Foden added: "We knew what to expect today and I thought the courage and desire today to keep going when it wasn’t going right at times was important today.
"We always work on being patient in training, keep them moving and I thought we showed that today, kept going until the end and luckily it managed to fall to me.
"Being who we are, we always believe, as a team we keep fighting to the end."
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