Pep Guardiola explains Zinchenko absence for Man City amid Tagliafico transfer talk

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 has challenged his Manchester City players to keep their motivation as their injury crisis shows no sign of improving.The City boss may have been able to welcome a fully-fit Bernardo Silva and João Cancelo into the team to face Arsenal, as well as hand Sergio Aguero and Ilkay Gundogan their first minutes of the season.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola thinks that Sergio Aguero still has to earn a new contract at Manchester City just like he does.The club record scorer is in the final year of his deal at City, but after so many years of consistently high performances the Blues will not be pushing him out of the door.However, Aguero’s appearance against Arsenal was his first since June and the club are keen for him to show that he is over his injury problems, while the possibility of signing Lionel Messi on a

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 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

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.

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola says football matches behind closed doors leave him feeling empty. The Manchester City manager had said that playing without fans would be pointless when talk of games behind closed doors first emerged, but as the shocking impact of the pandemic swept the country there was an understanding that it would be a necessity to finish the 2019/20 campaign.

straight to your inbox Ferran Soriano has explained why Manchester City had to spend heavily on a new centre-back in the transfer window. The Blues spent around £120m on three first-team players at a time when there is extra scrutiny on top football clubs given the draining financial effect on the world from the Covid crisis and the struggles of many teams in the lower divisions as a result.

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola has indicated that Ruben Dias's character was an important factor in Manchester City deciding to make him their new club record signing. The Blues paid £65.2m for the centre-back from Benfica, although they did get £13.7m for Nicolas Otamendi to go the other way.

straight to your inbox Manchester City could be eight points behind Premier League leaders Everton and reigning champions Liverpool by tomorrow night. But Blues boss Pep Guardiola said he is not thinking about the gap at such an early stage of the season – and said he was “more than satisfied” after a 1-1 draw at Leeds.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola has hailed Leeds boss as the person he admires most in world football. The Manchester City boss takes his team to Elland Road tomorrow for a clash which many think could be a classic between two teams who only know how to attack.

straight to your inboxMarcelo Bielsa says Pep Guardiola could definitely be successful in any division, with or without a lot of transfer funds, just like he has been at Leeds.Guardiola takes his Manchester City side to Elland Road on Sunday to take on Bielsa's Leeds, with the pre-match build up understandably focussing on the relationship between the two managers.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola had Manchester City fans wondering if the squad had been hit by a serious Covid-19 outbreak in his post-match interview last night.The Blues boss was asked about his team’s display in the 3-0 win at Burnley and gave a stock answer about the team playing well and how important it was to keep a clean sheet after the 5-2 home defeat by Leicester.But he then added: “We are still far away from our best because we’re not training much.

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola says Manchester City's first-teamers wanted to play against Burnley after suffering a humbling Premier League defeat to Leicester. After a winning start away to Wolves, a week that began with such optimism ended in crushing defeat as they lost 5-2 at the Ethad.

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola says Cole Palmer has a bright future at Manchester City after making his debut for the club. The 18-year-old was bumped up to first-team training when the players returned after lockdown and has stayed with them for this season.

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola turned to 17-year-old striker Liam Delap, making his Premier League debut, to try to stem the tide as Manchester City slumped to a 5-2 home defeat by Leicester. And while that was a remarkable vote of confidence in the youngster – who scored on his first appearance for the Blues in the Carabao Cup on Thursday – it was also a bold gamble.

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola says Leicester's gameplan led Manchester City players to believe they weren't playing well in the first half, leading to them being picked off on the counter-attack. Riyad Mahrez gave the Blues the perfect start in their third game of the week and season as he rocketed in a loose ball in the box to put them ahead in the fourth minute of the game.