A frustrating 1-1 draw at home to Everton on New Year’s Eve allied to leaders’ Arsenal’s 4-2 win at Brighton, meant the Gunners opened up a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League as the curtain closed on 2022.
However, given the six week break for the World Cup finals, it means the top two have only played 16 games so far, with a packed schedule still to navigate over the next six months.
And for the Swiss international defender, the key New Year priority for Pep Guardiola’s side is to maintain consistency and to seek to build the pressure on the league leaders.
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Especially with two pivotal league games against Arsenal also to fit into a packed and intense schedule.
“It’s the midway point of the season,” Akanji pointed out.
“Of course, Arsenal are first but in the end there are lots of games to play and we have to play them twice.
“We’ll keep the pressure up and try to win our next game and keep on going.
“There’s still a long way to go.”
Saturday’s draw proved a frustrating affair with City dominating possession, territory and chances and Everton scoring with their one clear shot on target through Demarai Gray as the Goodison side cancelled out Erling Haaland’s earlier opener.
For Akanji, one of the big takeaways from the match was how it reinforced the importance of seeking to restrict opportunities to the opposition.
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And given the firepower at our disposal, the Swiss international believes if we can start building a bank of clean sheets it could ell prove pivotal come the business end of the season.
“We had enough chances and we’ve got to keep the clean sheet in a game like this – we can’t give the opponent the opportunity to score, especially when we are up 1-0,” Akanji acknowledged.
“It’s something we have to (do) better in the next game. One point is not enough out of this 90 minutes.
“We tried to dominate the game – I think we did it pretty well and had enough opportunities to score a goal.
“In the end we have to manage to keep the clean sheet and there’s going to be some tough games where the opponent is defending well, and we’ve got to do a better job to keep the clean sheet.
“I think we did really well, but we have to be more focused at that one time and better organised in defence.
“If we can do that, we might be better the next time – it’s something we have to improve.”
