Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta has declared that his side cannot afford to drop any more points if they are to retain their Premier League title.

The champions trail Manchester United by seven points ahead of this afternoon's trip to Arsenal, with the Argentine full-back admitting that they must aim to win every game if they are to close the gap.

He told reporters: "We are under pressure and we cannot drop any points at the moment.

"If United beat Liverpool then it's going to be difficult for us. But we need to control the situation and keep calm. We can't drop points and we must wait for United to drop some points.

"We need to stay positive because the race still has a long way to go. You never know in the Premier League, every game is so difficult. We expect United will drop some points but obviously we need to keep winning to take advantage."

Roberto Mancini's men will kick off at the Emirates ten points adrift of their title rivals if United beat Liverpool in Sunday's early match.