Nathan Ake fires warning to Arsenal after noticing Man City squad reaction to World Cup

Manchester City players are already putting the World Cup behind them and are fully focussed on closing down Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table, according to Nathan Ake.

Defender Ake starred as the Netherlands reached the World Cup quarter-finals, losing to eventual winners Argentina. Only Julian Alvarez, who impressed for the new world champions, is yet to return to City from Qatar, and the Blues brushed off any cobwebs with an entertaining 3-2 win over Liverpool on Thursday in the Carabao Cup.

Now attention turns back to the Premier League, with City five points behind leaders Arsenal and a tough fixture list approaching in the new year. However, Ake says he has noticed a motivation within the squad to hunt down the Gunners and retain their title.

“It was a bit strange," he said of returning from the World Cup straight into fixtures. "The last couple of weeks have been strange - people coming back at different times, but I thought we showed a lot of energy against Liverpool. They did too and it was a high-quality game.

"The World Cup was a very good experience, you then have a week off or so and then come back in training a few times and straight back into an intense game like this which is strange. It’s also good - it’s very good to be back. This team is incredible, we have amazing players, and the changing room is so good.

"Everyone is so good with each other so it’s nice to be back and we managed to win which makes it better. Hopefully we kick on with the season from now.”

Discussing Arsenal directly, Ake said: "We’re going to do everything to challenge them. They’re doing really well this season. We’ve started off well since coming back now - our first game out of the way - and hopefully we carryon like this.”

Ake scored the winning goal in the end-to-end cup clash with Liverpool, and he pointed to attacking duo Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne as key to City's system.

“The front three work so hard and they set off the press," Ake noted.

"If they set off, everyone will follow, and I thought we showed a lot of intensity in the pressing and Erling topped it off for sure. Him and Kevin have a very good connection. Kevin put some amazing balls in today - also for me in the first half where I should have scored but luckily, he did it again in the second half and I managed to score. We know the quality both of those players have.”