Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo sets himself challenge to emulate Man City boss Pep Guardiola

straight to your inboxManchester City manager Pep Guardiola has named Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool and Luis Enrique's Barcelona as the two toughest sides he has ever faced in management.Unfortunately for Guardiola, he will be up against one of those sides on Sunday when the Premier League champions visit the Etihad for their first meeting of the season.While City's form has been sporadic in the opening stages of the campaign, Liverpool have largely remained consistent and already look the favourites

City.Stevan JoveticThe Montenegrin’s City career never truly took off before he was sold to Inter Milan in 2016 having spent the previous season on loan at the Italians.Jovetic then spent the 2016/17 season on loan at Sevilla before joining Monaco, where he has endured an injury-hit four three years, managing only 29 Ligue 1 appearances for the principality club across the 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons.Gero RulliThe Argentine goalkeeper was a £4m arrival during Guardiola’s first summer

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola was not giving much away after being asked when he would make a decision on his Manchester City future.The Spaniard is in the final year of his current contract at the Etihad Stadium. He has been linked with a return to former club Barcelona, though he has repeatedly insisted he is happy at City.

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola believes seven teams could yet be involved in this season's Premier League title race, but the Manchester City boss insists Liverpool are the favourites to retain their crown.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola took notice of Liverpool's result against Atalanta in the Champions League ahead of their visit to Manchester City this week.The Premier League champions have not been as mean at the back this season and a serious injury to Virgil van Dijk will not help their efforts to keep opponents out over the course of the campaign.Guardiola again wished Van Dijk well in his recovery and would rather have two fully-fit teams to be able to put on the best spectacle

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola has dismissed the idea that Sunday's Etihad fixture with Liverpool is going to have a major impact on the Premier League title race. The two sides meet an early stage of the season and while Jurgen Klopp's side are already top of the table, victory for Manchester City Sunday afternoon will close the gap to two points and they still have a game in hand.

straight to your inboxTaylor Harwood-Bellis says Ruben Dias is already setting the standard for young defenders at Manchester City.The summer signing has looked a solid addition since his £60m move from Benfica in September and Harwood-Bellis says it is easy to see why City brought him in.Speaking to City's website, 18-year-old Harwood-Bellis explained that all of the club's senior defenders are leaders.Yet he says the way Dias has settled in and impressed straight away has given him another

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola admitted he still feels "so bad for the players" more than two months after their Champions League quarter-final defeat to Lyon. Manchester City headed to Lisbon for the final three rounds of the competition on a high after beating the team dubbed the "kings of the competition" by their manager, dumping Real Madrid out to make the last eight.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola says Virgil Van Dijk's injury is a blow to the whole Premier League.Liverpool defender Van Dijk requires surgery on an ACL injury in his knee after being forced off in the Merseyside derby last weekend following a challenge from Jordan Pickford. The influential defender, who played every minute of Liverpool's impressive Premier League title win last season, is now set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines and could miss the whole of the season.

straight to your inboxGuardiola urges City to keep focus amid injury woesManchester City boss Pep Guardiola admits he does not know when his side will return to top form after a challenging few weeks on the injury front. City beat Arsenal 1-0 on Saturday but Guardiola has injury concerns ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League opener against Porto with Kevin De Bruyne, Aleks Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus, Aymeric Laporte and Benjamin Mendy all missing the win over the Gunners.

straight to your inboxManchester City striker Sergio Aguero has been criticised after making contact with assistant referee Sian Massey-Ellis in the club's 1-0 win over Arsenal on Saturday evening after disputing a throw-in.Despite regulations banning players from touching officials, the striker’s actions are expected to go unpunished and the incident has left supporters and pundits questioning what they saw.

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola played down an incident involving Sergio Aguero and official Sian Massey during Manchester City's 1-0 victory over Arsenal. City got back to winning ways on their return to Premier League action on Saturday night after losing to Leicester and drawing with Leeds in the previous two league matches.

straight to your inboxManchester City manager Pep Guardiola explained that he thought it would be better to start Sergio Aguero against Arsenal than leave him on the bench due to his side's current issues up front.City return to Premier League action on Saturday following the international break and will be aiming to return to winning ways after suffering a heavy defeat against Leicester City and drawing with Leeds last time out.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola is hoping his Manchester City side can rediscover "who we are as a team" when they face Arsenal today.The Blues have been inconsistent so far in the Premier League, following an opening weekend win at Wolves with the 5-2 defeat to Leicester City and the 1-1 draw with Leeds before the international break.Guardiola has seen his side put together performances in patches so far, rather than over a full 90 minutes, and the challenge against the Gunners will be made

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straight to your inboxPep Guardiola is expecting the Premier League to return to more normal levels of goals as teams 'take a little more care'. Manchester City are used to racking up scores in their matches but there have been more goals and shocks across the league in the opening four rounds of games than ever before with an average of nearly four goals a game plundered.

straight to your inboxManchester City will face Arsenal on the weekend as master meets apprentice; Pep Guardiola will have to overcome his former assistant in Mikel Arteta, who left Manchester to take over at the Emirates in December.Arteta has improved the Gunners since making the move, but one major problem still persists and it tends to drift under the radar.