Pep Guardiola gives Man City's reborn defender John Stones a timely warning

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 inbox Gabriel Jesus gave notice he is rediscovering his goalscoring boots just in time for Manchester City ’s trip to Liverpool on Sunday. The Brazil striker has scored the opening goal in consecutive games to keep the Blues riding high at the top of the Premier League.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola believes there is "a lot" of room for improvement in this Manchester City team despite them sitting clear at the top of the Premier League table. A comfortable 2-0 win over Burnley thanks to first-half goals from Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan leaves the Blues three points ahead of nearest rivals United with a game in hand and continued their superb winning streak that now sits at nine in the league and 13 in all competitions.

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 inbox Sergio Aguero is still “a few weeks” away from Manchester City return despite getting a lean bill of health following Covid-19. The Blues’ all-time goalscorer has not played since October and has not scored in the Premier League for over a year after injury and illness wrecked his season.

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 inboxPep Guardiola suggested Eric Garcia could leave Manchester City this month after resigning himself to losing the centre-back.Garcia stunned his club last summer when he informed them that he no longer saw a future for himself at the Etihad and wished instead to return to former club Barcelona.

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.

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 Kevin De Bruyne will be out for up to six weeks to hand Manchester City another blow to their Premier League title hopes. The Blues discovered yesterday that Sergio Aguero faces an undetermined spell out after testing positive for Covid-19.

straight to your inboxKevin De Bruyne has played down fears over the long-term nature of his injury while speaking to a gamer on Twitch.De Bruyne limped out of Manchester City's win over Aston Villa, and is expected to be out for a fortnight, putting his participation against Liverpool on February 7 in doubt.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola was left hoping on Wednesday night that the injuries that forced Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne off against Aston Villa will not be too serious.Manchester City continued their good form, winning their sixth straight league game and ninth in all competitions to reach the Premier League summit for the first time this season thanks to late goals from Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan.However, they had to make do without two of their starting XI for long spells.

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola marked the fourth anniversary of Gabriel Jesus ’ arrival at Manchester City by saying the Brazil star "knows" what he has to do to improve. The 23-year-old joined up with the Blues in January 2017 after City agreed to delay the move so he could finish a title-winning season with Palmeiras.Since then Jesus has scored an impressive 72 goals in 166 appearances, a goals-per-game average that would be stunning in most teams.

direct to your inboxPep Guardiola called upon an answer he has used before when asked how he will spend his 50th birthday today.The Manchester City boss saw his side produce a professional performance mixed with moments of individual quality on Saturday to beat Crystal Palace 4-0 and move up to second in the Premier League with a game in hand over leaders Manchester United.United had earlier drawn 0-0 with Liverpool, allowing City to move above Liverpool and to within two points of United with a

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola could not rule out a January transfer for Eric Garcia but hopes that Manchester City will be able to keep hold of the player. Garcia stunned the Blues last year when he opted not to extend his contract at the Etihad and decided that he wanted to return to Barcelona.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola queried how effective the new protocols for Covid-19 can be in preventing contact on the pitch after Manchester City's FA Cup win over Birmingham. With more regular testing introduced recently across clubs following outbreaks including Newcastle, City, and Fulham, the PFA this week reminded all players not to celebrate with teammates at goals or swap shirts at the end of games in a bid to reduce contact and keep infection rates down.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola is not sure when he will be able to call on Sergio Aguero with the Manchester City striker isolating after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.

straight to your inboxKyle Walker, Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero will all have to be assessed in training before Pep Guardiola will decide when he can turn to his players again. Manchester City progressed to the Carabao Cup final for a fourth year in a row by beating neighbours United at Old Trafford with goals from John Stones and Fernandinho in a 2-0 win.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola asked his Manchester City side for the same level of intensity in the second half of their Carabao Cup semi-final win over Manchester United to book their place in a fourth successive final.City and United had exchanged blows in the opening 45 minutes, with both sides having goals ruled out for offside and both goalkeepers making superb saves.