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Rodri: 'Manchester City must win all remaining games to catch Liverpool'

Both City and Liverpool face tricky schedules in December.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri is confident the champions can make up ground on Liverpool in the next month.

City, who are third in the Premier League, trail the leaders from Merseyside by nine points after 13 games.

They face a tough December with matches against Manchester United, Arsenal and Leicester, but Liverpool have a hectic schedule that includes the Club World Cup in Qatar.

Rodri (right) is determined to battle through City's tough period
Rodri (right) is determined to battle through City's tough period (Martin Rickett/PA)

Asked if the gap can be cut, Rodri said: "Of course. There are a lot of matches and let's see what happens.

"We will go on every pitch and do our best and always want three points. Nine points from the leaders – if we want to fight for this Premier League we have to win all the games.

"Of course it's so important to do your homework, you have to think about the next ones and the next matches are so important. They are finals for us.

"The Premier League, Carabao Cup, Champions League – we have very important matches next month.

"We have to be focused and there are a lot of players playing a lot of minutes, so we have to rest and, of course, get back all the injured players to get all the team."

City laboured against Shakhtar but still secured top spot in Group C
City laboured against Shakhtar but still secured top spot in Group C (Martin Rickett/PA)

City travel to Newcastle this weekend and Burnley next Tuesday before hosting United in the Manchester derby on December 7.

That will be an intense period but the pressure will at least be off for their final Champions League Group C game against Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia on December 11.

City secured top spot in the group and a place in the last 16 for a seventh consecutive year as they played out a tame 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

After a pedestrian first half, Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring in the 56th minute but Shakhtar responded to claim a deserved point through Manor Solomon.

City lacked their usual dynamism but Spain international Rodri, a £62.8million summer signing from Atletico Madrid, felt they could still have scored several goals.

He said: "We knew a draw was good for us. There are lots of matches in the year so we don't have to be crazy.

"Of course at the beginning of the match we wanted to win but if we draw for first in the group it's OK for the team.

"I don't think they had too many chances. They scored one goal and we had a lot of chances.

"It seems like it always happens the same. We have to check and fix these problems but the team is growing and I think we did a good match."

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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal34245582265677
2Liverpool34228475344174
3Manchester CityMan City32227376324473
4Aston Villa34206871502166
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd33165125150153
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle331551369541550
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham34139125463-948
9Chelsea32138116157447
10Bournemouth34129134960-1145
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton321111105250244
12Wolverhampton WanderersWolves34127154654-843
13Fulham34126165054-442
14Crystal Palace34109154456-1239
15Brentford3498175259-735
16Everton34118153648-1233
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3479184260-1826
18Luton TownLuton3467214775-2825
19Burnley3458213769-3223
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3437243392-5916


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