Pep Guardiola picks the quality he loves most from John Stones and Ruben Dias partnership at Man City

straight to your inboxJamie Carragher has changed his prediction regarding which Manchester City star will win the PFA Player of the Year award. The former Liverpool defender previously tipped Ruben Dias to claim the gong thanks to the impact the summer signing has had on Pep Guardiola's defence.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola confirmed a double injury boost for Manchester City ahead of the Premier League clash with Tottenham as he confirmed Rodri and Ruben Dias are back in training.Dias missed the trip to Swansea this week with a fever, while Rodri limped out of that cup win after a needless late challenge.

straight to your inboxThe Champions League defeat will always be the most agonising but Pep Guardiola has rarely enjoyed facing Tottenham during his time as Manchester City manager. Mauricio Pochettino was the first to inflict Premier League defeat upon him with a 2-0 defeat at White Hart Lane sounding alarm bells for the new coach about how ill-equipped his side were to challenge.

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 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 inboxPep Guardiola hailed the importance of Ruben Dias as he encouraged other defenders in the squad to learn from the summer signing.The 23-year-old from Benfica has had an unbelievable impact since joining for a club record fee at the end of September, with the team conceding just one goal more (seven) in the 18 Premier League games he has played in than in the two that he did not (one against Wolves and five against Leicester).Such a reversal has inevitably led to comparisons

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 said he had already forgotten their 5-0 win over West Bromwich Albion in midweek as he treasured the more difficult memories that Manchester City have picked up. City played some glorious football at the Hawthorns in midweek as they strolled to a comfortable victory but were made to work incredibly hard by another team struggling against relegation as Chris Wilder's Sheffield United pushed them all the way at the Etihad despite conceding an early goal.

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 backed Thomas Tuchel to gain success at Chelsea.The German has been appointed head coach at Stamford Bridge following Frank Lampard's sacking earlier this week. He is a manager that Man City boss Guardiola knows well, with the two having faced each other in Germany on a number of occasions.

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 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.