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Ruben Dias has echoed Pep Guardiola's message and insists that Manchester City can get even better over the rest of the season. City are only two points behind Arsenal going into the weekend and have the same goal difference.

When the sides met at Emirates Stadium in September, Arsenal scored in stoppage time to secure a dramatic 1-1 draw. The Gunners know what it's like to be caught by City, having lost out to Guardiola's side in both 2023 and 2024.

Following their impressive 2-1 win away to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, Guardiola claimed that his team aren't the finished product. That's despite a run of 11 wins in 14 games.

"We are (far) away," the City manager told TNT Sports post-match. "Still we are not ready. In February, we will be better. We have been here in the past, playing much than today, and we have lost.

"That's football sometimes. The players made an incredible effort, it was an incredibly good result, the spirit is unbelievable, but there are still margins to improve."

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Now Dias has given a similar verdict. "I feel like we're in a very good place," the City centre-back affirmed to Sky Sports. "But I feel like we can still be a lot better.

"If that's 70 per cent now and we have 30 still to go or if that's 80 and we have 20 or whatever, I don't know what it is, I feel like we can be even better.

"That's a good feeling to have at this time of the season. We still have a few extra gears to go through. But I acknowledge that in this moment I feel like we're strong, I feel like we can compete, seriously."

City travel to Crystal Palace on Sunday, less than 24 hours after Arsenal welcome last-placed Wolves. Guardiola had to miss his pre-match press conference because of a personal issue on Friday, so assistant Kolo Toure stepped in and heaped praise on their title rivals.

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"We know the quality of Arsenal," Toure said. "They have a really strong squad, a fantastic manager. But it's all down to us. We have the best manager in the world, he's doing an incredible job every day.

"His passion for the game, he loves the players, he loves his staff, and we know he will take us as far as we can to winning the league. We just focus on what we can do really, not on what Arsenal are doing. Every game is like a final for us."

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