Pep Guardiola’s side missed the chance to close the gap at the top of the table on the Gunners, who were beaten by Everton at the weekend.
We remain five points behind Arsenal as we chase a third successive title, and the former City defender says it’s important to not allow the distance to grow any larger before our first league meeting – at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday 15 February.
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That means this Sunday’s game against Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium is a must-win fixture for the Blues.
“When you lose a game you want to play as soon as possible,” said Lescott, who was one of our special guests on Sunday’s Matchday Live show.
“It’s not a bad fixture for us at home as a Club, especially after last season and what that did for winning the title.
“There’s an opportunity to get back on to it and it’s key now that Arsenal are the next team to drop points. I don’t think we can afford to drop any more points before then.”
Fellow Matchday Live special guest Steph Houghton agrees it is a must-win fixture with the defender saying that a good performance would give the players confidence going into the trip to face Mikel Arteta’s side.
“I think it is for a lot of reasons, not just to get back the points we lost against Spurs but also to breathe some confidence into the team and to have the mentality of coming off a good performance and scoring goals,” she said.
“Getting back to keeping clean sheets is important and it lets you have the base to go out and attack. To get the crowd behind them and have a good performance would breathe so much confidence going into that Arsenal game.”
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Villa’s last visit to the Etihad was the unforgettable final day of last season when we clinched the title with a stunning 3-2 comeback, although we were held to a 1-1 draw in September.
Since then, the Midlands side have changed manager with Unai Emery taking charge, and Houghton expects them to provide a tough test.
“With the new manager coming in they will be a lot more organised and lot more structured,” she said.
“At the same time, he likes to attack and to be a little bit open. They got beaten by Leicester at the weekend but it seemed a very close game.
“But it’s a chance to play at home at the Etihad Stadium and to get back on track and to what we’ve been missing these last few games.”
