Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says disappointing results away from home against good teams was the reason why the Gunners failed to fight for the title last season.
The Gunners face second-placed Manchester City on Sunday afternoon and the Frenchman believes his side has enough potential to cause an upset at the City of Manchester Stadium.
"You have many games when you know you will be judged on your potential," Wenger said during Friday's press conference.
"Manchester City is one of them. Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool are other games that people have a close eye on to judge your potential.
"They have always had good teams but we have won at Manchester United, we have won at Manchester City. The history will not play a big part in this game.
"It's the performance of the day that will play the biggest part and the only important part.
"I believe we have consistency. Last year, we did not win the championship only for that reason.
"We did not perform in the top games away from home. I believe we have the potential now to be much more stable and to show that we can do it.
"For many years [our record in the biggest games] was our strength and in the last two years it is true that it has been a weakness. I think we are mature enough now to rectify it.
"We want to have a good balance between attacking and defending because we know that City attack very well, so it's important that we do both sides of the game very well."
A win would move the Gunners to eight points behind the Citizens and Wenger says the objective is to move as close as possible to the top of the table.
"We want to win. You have to die and you want to win," the Arsenal boss explained.
"What we want is to put the maximum effort in to give ourselves the best possible chance of winning.
"Mathematically we are not in the best position [to win the league] but what we want to do is give ourselves a chance to come as close as possible and put a top-level performance in."
