Pep Guardiola’s men sit six points off league leaders Arsenal following the Gunners’ 2-2 away result to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
The two sides lock horns at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday 26 April in a match which is sure to have huge significance on who’s eventually crowned Premier League champions.
But De Bruyne, fresh from grabbing his 100th Premier League assist in a 4-1 win over Southampton, has called for City to avoid looking too far ahead in a captivating two-horse race.
“We know we are behind [Arsenal], but we can only control what we can control,” he said.
“We know there’s a lot of games to play, we know tough periods are ahead and every game is a must win.
“We’ve been in this situation before, and we focus on ourselves.”
City made it eight wins in a row in all competitions with a convincing 4-1 triumph over Southampton on Saturday evening.
De Bruyne was at the centre of that success, finding Erling Haaland for the game’s opening goal on the stroke of half-time with a typically inch-perfect ball into the box.
For the Belgian, it was the catalyst for a convincing second half display in which a much-improved City side were able to break down a stubborn Saints defence.
He reflected: “Towards the end of the first half we started to create more chances and it was good we scored that goal.
“It was difficult to see the spaces and we needed to go a little bit quicker going forward.
“We played really well in the second half - we put them under pressure, we did our job and we deserved to win.”
