Pep Guardiola explains Man City substitutions against Cheltenham

straight to your inbox Manchester City were last night claiming a new top-flight record of 15 consecutive wins in all competitions, after seeing off Swansea in the FA Cup. But the Blues were, confusingly enough, also adamant that they had broken that particular record in 2017 – when they piled up TWENTY victories on the bounce on their way to a Premier League and League Cup double.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola could not confirm if Ruben Dias will be fit to face Tottenham as he waits for news on the extent of Rodri's injury. Dias missed his first match since moving to Manchester City from Benfica in September, absent from the matchday squad at Swansea after 30 consecutive appearances in them.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola will send his Manchester City team into battle at Anfield seeking the win he feels could deliver a serious blow to defending champions Liverpool.The Blues boss, normally so cautious in looking ahead, admitted it would be an “important” step in the pursuit of the Premier League title if they could open up a ten-point gap to reigning champions Liverpool.City have not won on the red side of Merseyside since 2003, and Anfield remains the only Premier League

straight to your inboxJamie Carragher says Ruben Dias should become the seventh centre-back to be named PFA Player of the Year.The Manchester City defender has been a rock in defence since joining from Benfica in the summer, keeping eight clean sheets in his last nine Premier League matches to help Pep Guardiola's side to the top of the Premier League table.Dias has also formed a solid partnership with a rejuvenated John Stones and Carragher paid tribute to the way the former Everton defender

straight to your inboxAymeric Laporte insists he has happy at Manchester City but has hinted he might look to assess his future at the club if his playing time does not increase.Laporte has struggled with injury in different spells this season, while he also missed some games after isolating for Covid-19. Since being dropped after defeat at Tottenham, the Frenchman has struggled to disrupt the partnership of John Stones and Ruben Dias as City have gone 19 games unbeaten in all competitions.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola has named a strong Manchester City side to face Burnley, with Aymeric Laporte picked at left-back. After Manchester United earned a record-equalling win last night, they moved level on points with City at the top of the Premier League, albeit having played two games more.

straight to your inboxManchester City will have to try to win the Premier League without a prolific goalscorer this season, Pep Guardiola has come to accept.Sergio Aguero has suffered a number of setbacks in his attempts to return from a knee problem that kept him out of the beginning of the campaign, while Gabriel Jesus has just three league goals to his name after another frustrating season.

straight to your inboxSeeing – and hearing – Ruben Dias in action has Gareth Barry harking back to his early days in the Manchester City dressing room.The former Blues midfielder was brought to the club in 2010 as an experienced 28-year-old who had played at a high level for Aston Villa for ten years, playing nearly 450 games.But it was a 23-year-old Vincent Kompany who startled Barry, whose own experience was a key reason City stumped up a bargain £12million for the England international.Both

straight to your inboxGary Neville has warned Manchester City that Liverpool could ride a similar wave of momentum to themselves following back-to-back Premier League wins.Pep Guardiola's side have risen to the top of the table after a run of 12 matches unbeaten, including nine victories. City's defensive record has been impressive too, with John Stones and Ruben Dias forming a fantastic partnership at centre-back, which has seen only two goals conceded during that run.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola praised the fight of his Manchester City players as they defended as a unit to keep out Sheffield United. Ruben Dias led the defence superbly from the back to pick up another clean sheet that laid the platform for yet another Premier League victory for the Blues.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola’s patience with his defence ran out in the defeat at Tottenham – and his axing of Aymeric Laporte has sent a powerful message to the rest of his squad.The Manchester City manager insisted this week that he has been delighted with the way his rearguard has reacted to last season’s traumas, buoyed by impressive new signing Ruben Dias and the revitalised John StonesAfter seeing his side rack up their 11th clean sheet from 19 Premier League games as they blitzed

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola has pinpointed the chemistry between Ruben Dias and John Stones, as well as their ability to cut out mistakes from last season, as the main reason behind their brilliant partnership at Manchester City.Guardiola was reflecting on City's season to date, with half of their fixtures completed in the Premier League. City are top of the table, recovering well from a poor start to go seventeen games unbeaten in all competitions.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola will remind Manchester City players of the need to play to the whistle after they benefited from West Brom failing to do so themselves. With the Blues already 1-0 up, a number of West Brom players stopped when they saw an offside flag for Bernardo Silva, only for Joao Cancelo to put the ball in the net and the original decision be overturned on replays.

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 has challenged his Manchester City players to find another irreplaceable quality to make up for losing Kevin De Bruyne.City's talented playmaker could be missing for up to six weeks with the hamstring injury he picked up against Aston Villa in midweek in what has been the biggest setback to their season since the major Covid outbreak in the squad last month.However, the Blues found a way to win without him on Wednesday and are in excellent form in the Premier

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.