John Stones on the secret behind his brilliant Man City partnership with Ruben Dias

straight to your inboxManchester City could go to the top of the Premier League with a win against West Brom on Tuesday, albeit temporarily, with rivals Manchester United in action on Wednesday.City will be without Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero, Nathan Ake and Kyle Walker for the trip to The Hawthorns this midweek, with Ruben Dias and John Stones set to start once again in the centre of City's defence.Bernardo Silva should drop into midfield alongside Ilkay Gundogan and Rodri, whilst Phil

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola felt that Manchester City needed more quality in the final third as they trailed Cheltenham Town in the FA Cup. The Blues were staring at the biggest upset of the manager's five years at the club when Alfie May stabbed home from a Ben Tozer long throw on the hour-mark, leading to first-team regulars Ruben Dias, Ilkay Gundogan and Joao Cancelo all being brought off the bench for the closing moments.

direct to your inboxManchester United midfielder Paul Pogba and Manchester City defender John Stones have both been included in the FUT 21 Team of the Week 17 lineup.United star Pogba is included in the FIFA 21 TOTW 17 lineup after scoring and putting in a Man of the Match display against Burnley last week. The Frenchman also helped United keep a clean sheet in the Reds' credible 0-0 draw against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola has warned John Stones that he needs to continue revamping his football career – and his life – to be a Manchester City success. Stones looked like he was heading out of the Etihad Stadium exit door last summer, when midfielder Fernandinho was being chosen ahead of him, and his personal life was impacting on his game.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola has told Aymeric Laporte what he needs to do to break up the partnership between John Stones and Ruben Dias. Laporte was sorely missed last season as Manchester City's title defence crumbled while he was out with a long-term injury, but the Frenchman has barely been used in recent months.

straight to your inboxJohn Stones has revealed how he revamped every aspect of his game in a bid to resurrect his Manchester City career.And the England defender says that his exciting new partnership with Ruben Dias has been the other key factor in his spectacular return to form.Stones scored twice in the 4-0 win over Crystal Palace, but more importantly, the clean sheet made it one goal against that pair in their last ten games together.Talk of Stones and Dias being one of the great Premier

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola kept bringing up Manchester City's dropped points against Crystal Palace in previous meetings ahead of Wednesday's game as he urged his team to improve. With the magical boot of Kevin De Bruyne and an inspired John Stones, the players responded to the message and a 4-0 win at the Etihad gave them their first home victory over Roy Hodgson's side in over three years.

straight to your inboxJohn Stones has opened up about his Manchester City transformation - and revealed how Micah Richards helped him.Stones has come in from the cold to form a blossoming central defensive partnership with Ruben Dias in Pep Guardiola's side. The pair kept another clean sheet as City beat Crystal Palace 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday night.

straight to your inboxBarcelona presidential candidate Joan Laporta has claimed that Lionel Messi wants to stay at the Nou Camp.Messi rocked the footballing world in the summer when he announced he wanted to leave Barcelona due to complaints over how the club was run, with Manchester City being inserted as the immediate favourites to sign him.After weeks of wild speculation, the six-time Ballon d'Or winner eventually revealed he would be staying at Barca after all, in order to avoid a court

straight to your inboxBarcelona have been dealt a potentially fatal blow in their bid to sign Manchester City defender Eric Garcia this month.Garcia has been strongly linked with a move back to Barcelona having come through the club's La Masia academy before making the move to City in 2017.

straight to your inboxManchester City will welcome Eric Garcia back into the squad ahead of Crystal Palace to give Pep Guardiola more options in defence. John Stones and Ruben Dias have emerged as an immovable partnership at centre-back with just one goal conceded in nine starts together, but they have also been required to play so often because of the absence of others in that position.

direct to your inboxThe date and kick-off times for the FA Cup forth round have been confirmed.Manchester United will welcome fierce rivals Liverpool to Old Trafford on Sunday, January 24, with kick-off coming at 5pm. It will be shown live on BBC One.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola may be refusing to look publicly beyond the next game but Manchester City are building a title challenge.A hard-fought 1-0 win over Brighton on Wednesday night was their fourth consecutive Premier League victory and lifted them into the top four for the first time this season; they sit a point behind Liverpool and four behind United but have a game in hand on the teams above them, who also play each other at the weekend.City's manager is insistent that the

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola was able to rest some of Manchester City's key players against Birmingham, and his second half substitutions could indicate who is in line to start against Brighton on Wednesday.Raheem Sterling, Ilkay Gundogan and Oleks Zinchenko were rested completely, while Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias, John Stones and Kevin De Bruyne all played 45 minutes in City's straightforward FA Cup win at the weekend.

straight to your inboxManchester City didn't exactly stumble upon Ruben Dias this summer, but neither was he their top target to fill the centre back vacancy that had become a recurring problem for Pep Guardiola.There were other names in contention to be City's marquee signing of the summer, with Kalidou Koulibaly dominating much of the discussion, before an interest in Sevilla's Jules Kounde.For a variety of reasons, City ended up moving for Dias.

straight to your inboxFormer Manchester City midfielder Trevor Sinclair has compared the club's defensive partnership of John Stones and Ruben Dias to two Manchester United legends.City 's start to the season has been a slow burner but there have been signs of a significant upturn in the past few weeks, with victories over Chelsea in the Premier League and knocking United out of the Carabao Cup.

straight to your inboxWhen Manchester City's renaissance over the past month is analysed there are many factors to consider, but perhaps the most important is a player who often goes under the radar outside of the Etihad, but is invaluable to his manager and teammates.In the story of a month that has reasserted City as favourites for the Premier League title and the best footballing team in the country, the continued brilliance of Kevin De Bruyne has taken headlines, while Ruben Dias and John

direct to your inboxManchester City have secured their annual spot in the Carabao Cup final, after beating Manchester United 2-0 at Old Trafford.City, in search of their fourth consecutive trophy in the competition, earned bragging rights after second half goals from John Stones and Fernandinho. Meanwhile for United, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in particular, it represents a fourth semi-final defeat under the Norwegian, reigniting the pressure that had been quelled in recent weeks.