ABU DHABI // Fernandinho, the Manchester City midfielder, said yesterday the next two weeks are critical to the club’s defence of their Premier League title.
The English champions, who are in Abu Dhabi as part of a five-day training camp, return to domestic duty on Saturday when they face Championship side Middlesbrough in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
It is the following fixture on January 31 that looms large, though, as City will travel to Stamford Bridge for a top-of-the-table clash with Chelsea, the league leaders.
City, who are in second place, lost ground on the London club at the weekend when they were defeated 2-0 at home to Arsenal, a result that leaves them five points off the summit.
Understandably, Fernandinho has highlighted the Chelsea match as crucial to City’s championship aspirations.
"We are facing a difficult moment and the two coming weeks will be extremely important for us," Fernandinho said on Tuesday, ahead of Wednesday night's friendly with Hamburg in Al Ain.
“It will be great if we can win on Saturday so we can arrive in front of Chelsea with a very high level of confidence within the team.
“We are crossing our fingers that nothing happens to any of the players against Hamburg, as we definitely need every single player in the team in order to be successful for the rest of the season.”
City have close to a full squad to choose from this week, although they are missing Yaya Toure, the influential midfielder, and Wilfried Bony, the recent signing from Swansea City.
Both players are representing the Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations, a tournament that runs until February 8.
Potentially, City could be without the pair for three more matches, including next month’s league encounter with Hull City.
Toure’s absence has been particularly tough to contend with, given City have failed to win either of their two league fixtures since he left to join the Ivory Coast squad.
Before that, Toure was in fine form, scoring six goals in eight appearances. Usually deployed alongside the former Barcelona man, Fernando is acutely aware of what his teammate brings to the side.
“It goes without saying that Yaya is at an extremely good level and contributes highly to the team’s results,” Fernando said.
“At the same time, City have bought very good players and we have to count on every single player in the team.
“We definitely miss him, because since he left the results have been declining. But we have to hope that in the future his absence will have less impact. We have to compensate as a team.”
Like Fernandinho, Fernando has stressed the importance of the Chelsea match.
Defeat would put City eight points behind their title rivals, although they did eradicate that same deficit already once this season, before falling back again thanks to a 1-1 draw at Everton and the home loss to Arsenal.
Reining in Chelsea twice could prove too great a task, especially as the omens of getting something from the game are not promising: in their past 15 visits to Stamford Bridge, City have won only once.
“It is definitely a very important game for us,” Fernando said. “They are a very big rival of ours, who have the same objective – to win the title.
“We are aware it will be a difficult game, as they have a very good team, but we are going to go there confident that we can score and get a good result.”
City’s conviction may have been shaken by Sunday’s loss to Arsenal – it was the club’s first defeat in all competitions since early November – although striker Sergio Aguero insisted otherwise.
“The team is enjoying a high level of confidence,” he said. “The result at the weekend was not the best, but we do have a great opportunity with the game coming up against Chelsea. It is our target to win it.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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