Friday 23 October 2015 11:30, UK
Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta believes Sunday's derby away to Manchester United is a "crucial" fixture in the title race.
The two title-chasing neighbours meet at Old Trafford on Super Sunday, live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 2pm.
City are top of the Premier League, two points above third-place United, and Zabaleta says they must win the game to keep up momentum and maintain a psychological advantage over their rivals.
"We know how much the derby means for the fans. It's the one everyone expects to win and hopefully we can put in a good performance," Zabaleta told Sky Sports News HQ.
"It's a crucial game. They have the chance to go top of the league but it's a chance for us to extend the gap between us and United and Arsenal.
"We expect a very tough one. Old Trafford is a hard place to go and they have improved. They brought in some good players in the summer, spending good money to make a strong team.
"They are one of the contenders to the title, I'm 100% sure of that, but we've done it before and hopefully we can repeat it again. I've been involved in some big derbies, winning some of them and losing others, but hopefully on Sunday I can celebrate another three points."
City have won seven of their opening nine games and have already beaten reigning champions Chelsea, who are struggling in 12th after winning just three times.
But Zabaleta insists Jose Mourinho's side cannot be ruled out of the title race with so many games to go.
"We cannot forget about Arsenal, and Chelsea still," he said. "There's 29 games to go, there's a big gap, but nothing is impossible in football.
"Chelsea have not been in good form recently. They are in a strange situation where they've never been before in this period of the season, but they still have a very strong team.
"For me, the most important thing is my team. We need to train well to do well at the weekends and keep momentum going. Any team can drop points in certain moments and that's why we need to keep working hard to win games.
"That's the best way to win the Premier League."
