Ruben Dias does not believe Manchester City can draw inspiration from previous instances where they pipped Arsenal to the title, saying each Premier League season is different. 

City trail the Gunners by five points at the top of the table ahead of Wednesday's meeting with Nottingham Forest, while holding a game in hand on the leaders.

Pep Guardiola's side, who have won their last four Premier League games, will also face Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium in a potential title decider in April.

With City hitting form right at the start of the run-in, comparisons have been drawn to their title-winning campaigns in 2022-23 and 2023-24, given Arsenal led the table for long portions of both seasons.  

In 2022-23, City embarked on a run of 14 wins in 15 games (one draw) between February and May, while in 2023-24, they did not lose a game after December 6 and ended the season with nine straight wins to clinch the trophy on the final day.

But when asked if history was repeating itself, Dias told TNT Sports: "I feel like no title race is the same. Every year, there's a new challenge; there's a new opponent. 

"Even if it's the same opponent, there are different ways to go past it. As such, every one is a new one, so we're focused on Nottingham Forest."

City's title rivals Arsenal have attracted stern criticism over a perceived reliance on set-pieces recently, having tied the record for the most goals from corners in a Premier League season (16).

Critics have also suggested the Gunners slow the game down at restarts and are overly physical for dead balls, but Dias says it is up to their rivals to adapt.

"The game is always changing," he said. "From set-pieces to defending, attacking, or whatever. You just adapt to whatever is coming at you. 

"Especially in the position in which you want to win, win, win and win. You just adapt and don't talk much about it."

A distant third-placed finish in 2024-25 led City to complete a dramatic overhaul of their squad, with stalwarts Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Kyle Walker, Ederson among their big-name departures. 

City added Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi to their ranks in January, having already acquired the likes of Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rayan Cherki and Gianluigi Donnarumma in the summer transfer window.

And Dias is confident they are better off after going through that period of transition.

"It was a difficult season, for sure," he added. "Mostly because we were not excellent and, normally, excellent is all we do around here.

"But it was definitely one we could learn from a lot, improve a lot. Also, it's very well known that it was a strong period of transition.

"We still managed to get to the final of the FA Cup. We made a brilliant push at the end of the season for those Champions League spots, which was very important for us and the club."