We welcome Manchester United to the Etihad Stadium knowing victory would not only earn us local bragging rights, but also see us take another huge step towards reclaiming the Premier League title.
Three points would both extend our phenomenal winning streak to 22 matches in all competitions as well as break our club record unbeaten run of 28 in the process.
And if an even greater incentive were needed, a positive result could also open up a potential 15-point cushion at the top of the Premier League.
With the games coming thick and fast as Manchester City continue to fight on all four fronts this season, squad rotation has been key to maintaining this success and achieving these incredible feats.
And Torres has reiterated this message, highlighting the importance of the collective over the individual as we prepare to lock horns with United for the third time this season.
He said: “We’ve got two great results against them so far this season because we all believe in the things we do.
“We have plenty of self-confidence, we have faith in the teammate who is next to us on the pitch, we are all one.
“Team success comes before any individual achievement, and we need to know that if we all work for the team and we achieve things all together, we will all have a personal reward too.
“I think every player has contributed giving to the team exactly what was expected from him, working for the group, not for himself.
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Torres earned his first taste of a Manchester Derby in December’s goalless draw at Old Trafford, coming on as a substitute with 25 minutes to play.
And while the Spaniard is under no illusions about the size of the occasion for both clubs, he also insisted he and his teammates will not lose sight of their overall objective.
“The people have transmitted to me how important the derby is for this city, there’s a big rivalry between both clubs, that comes from long ago,” he explained.
“But we need to work as we always do, with great enthusiasm and being humble, to try to get a win that would be very important for the blue side of the city and for us too”.
A Derby victory would perhaps be the cherry on top of what has been an incredible three months for City, with our unbeaten run stretching back to late November.
The turnaround has been remarkable after a difficult start to the new campaign, in which Pep Guardiola’s men found themselves as low as 11th in the Premier League table following a 2-0 loss at Tottenham.
Torres refuses to shy away from admitting we started slowly, but the winger has since run out of superlatives to describe our upward trajectory in 2021.
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“We can’t deny we didn’t have the best of the beginnings,” the Spaniard conceded.
“But as the season progressed, we’ve been improving and I think we reached the minimum required standards to fight for trophies.
“After that, I don’t have words to describe what we have achieved during the last two months.
“Personally, in my first season in a big Club like City, being able to win these amount of games in a row is something unbelievable.
“I hope we can add some more wins to these figures”.
