Manchester City

Pep Guardiola has spoken to the media before Manchester City's Premier League trip to Tottenham.

Here are the main lines from his news conference:

• On injuries, Guardiola said: "Jack (Grealish) is recovered from his illness and Nathan (Ake) was much better yesterday. I don't think it's serious but it's just three days since the last game."

• On his side never winning a league game at Spurs' new stadium: "We played really well many times but we were not able to score and win games. This is the time to do it. Otherwise, Arsenal will be champions."

• On the pressure of having to win: "The mindset is easy because if we don't win, we don't win the Premier League. The right tension and focus has to be there. If we play these games relaxed, it's a big problem. They (Tottenham) are going to play for qualification for the Champions League. It is huge for them and we have a huge target as well."

• On the prospect of becoming the first English club to win four consecutive titles: "We know what we are playing for, how difficult it is to be here. We have to do something special, exceptional I would say. We have something unique in front of us. There are a lot of things I enjoy, not just arriving at this stage of the season. There are 10 months where we work to get to this point."

We asked for your comments after Saturday's match between Fulham and Manchester City.

Here are some of your answers:

Fulham fans

David: A good start from us but conceding a soft goal early on did not bode well. Always felt City could turn it on as needed. In the end we were just outclassed. City are that good I'm surprised they didn't win Eurovision song contest later that day.

Alex: I thought Fulham got off to a decent start, then five passes later we were a goal down. A good season for us but work needed in the summer to rebuild.

Eric: Garbage from the get-go. They never lifted their heads to have a good game. They were blitzed by a exceptional side for sure but Man City were made to look better due to a lacklustre Fulham.

Sew: Well, this result clearly shows Fulham did not take it seriously. They haven't taken this game seriously all week after opting to fly kites instead of working on their gameplan.

Manchester City fans

Usama: That is what you call a complete performance. Controlled the game from start to finish and didn’t give Fulham any breathing space. Outstanding from every individual on the pitch. Hopefully Ake’s injury doesn’t keep him out. Only negative from the game was that Haaland chance. He’s got to bury that but he will get plenty more in the games to come.

Ian: A polished performance, Bernardo was exceptional in every respect, especially his one-touch passes and Josko Gvardiol finished like Haaland (usually does) - what greater compliment could I pay him?

Bob: We tired yet another side out and punished them in the second half. Still need to work on dealing with long balls behind the defence - fortunately Fulham were ultimately toothless in attack.

Major: They know how to win important matches. For the past three years, they have controlled their destiny.

Image source, Getty Images

When your dad made more than 700 professional appearances, played for Liverpool, Leicester, Birmingham, Wigan and Aston Villa in the Premier League, won the Uefa Cup, FA Cup and League Cup four times and played 62 times for England, getting football bragging rights over him is not easy.

But Manchester City youngster Jaden Heskey achieved exactly that with his goalscoring contribution to the 4-0 FA Youth Cup final win against Leeds on Friday night.

Emile Heskey never won the FA Youth Cup. Now his son has a prestigious medal to show him.

"It is something I will remember," he said. "He played in it for Leicester but I don't think he ever won it."

City were shown a motivational video by coach Ben Wilkinson in the build-up to the final, highlighting the stars who took their first significant steps in the game by winning the Youth Cup.

"I came out of that meeting proper pumped for it," added Heskey.

"It showed the Class of '92, the old City teams in the 80s that won it and all the players and where they've gone on to. Some are in the Champions League now like [Jadon] Sancho, [Felix] Nmecha and Brahim Diaz.

"That was good motivation to have before the game just to try and get yourself in history again."

Image source, Getty Images

Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha believes it will be "very hard to pick against" his former side beating Tottenham on Tuesday, despite the venue.

Pep Guardiola's side lost on their first five visits in all competitions to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, without even scoring a goal, before finally ending their poor sequence with victory in this season's FA Cup in January.

"City have had problems there before," Onuoha told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast. "Obviously this year they broke their duck when they won there in the FA Cup, but as far as places to go where you have to get a win, I think it could be tough - but then this is a very motivated Manchester City side.

"For them to be this close, it's going to be very hard to pick against them, but I'm sure there are going to be a lot of Tottenham players and staff who will want to prove that wrong.

"It will feel at times almost like a cup tie. By the end of it, if City have drawn, it will feel like a defeat for them. The fact that City must win adds that element of the cliched 'cup finals at the end of the season'."

City will win a fourth consecutive Premier League title if they beat Spurs and West Ham in their final two games, and also have an FA Cup final against neighbours Manchester United to follow.

Onuoha added: "Three wins and you win the double - how exciting must that be, but also nerve-wracking as well?"

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from Saturday's eight Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up on the action on BBC iPlayer here.

And you can watch highlights of Sunday's games on Match of the Day 2 here.

Also, listen back to Saturday's BBC Radio 5 Live match commentaries in full on BBC Sounds:

• West Ham United v Luton Town

• Nottingham Forest v Chelsea

Manchester City are interested in Everton's 16-year-old academy goalkeeper Douglas Lukjanciks and could pay up to £10m for the England Under-17 international. (Sun), external

Want more transfer news? Read Monday's full gossip column

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol spoke to BBC Match of the Day after scoring two goals against Fulham: "I don't feel pressure. I don't have any fear. That's who I am. As soon as I step onto the pitch I just want to be the best version of myself and try to give the best performance to help the team. I would say today great performance from the team again and that is all we need.

"Pep knows better than me. I am just happy that I can be coached by him and I believe I have improved a lot since I moved here. It is still just my first season here. Still two games to play and we keep going.

On his first goal: "I am a player who likes to combine with someone else, to use someone close to play a short one two pass. Kevin [De Bruyne] was there and helped me. I wanted to shoot as soon as I got the ball but I then realised I had more time so I took a few more touches and passed the ball into the bottom corner.

On turning down the penalty and hat-trick chance: "The lads wanted me to take it but I said the taker needs to take it. It would be nice for me to score a hat-trick, especially in my first season of the Premier League and I have never got one before. But currently we are in the position to try to score as many goals as possible and Julian [Alvarez] at the end scored the penalty. I am happy, he is happy, the team is happy.

On the side's form: "We go day by day and keep being focussed and concentrated on the next one because in two or three days we go to Spurs away for another difficult game. We go day by day and let's see."

Pep Guardiola spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Manchester City's victory over Fulham: "The great players enjoy playing with great pressure. These players in the last few years have been able to do it and we are again in the latter stages. Our dream is as we said a few weeks ago when they [Arsenal] lost against Aston Villa was to arrive in the last games with it in our hands, to play West Ham at home with the destiny belonging to us.

"We did a really good job today. The first ten minutes we struggled because as always they defend really well. When Berni [Silva] and Kova [Kovacic] and Rodri make a long action with a lot of passes and calmed the game and then Josko managed to get the goal - could have signed the best winger on the planet. We played really well and now we recover, go back to Manchester, then come back to London to play the final [against Spurs] the big final we have to try and retain our title.

On Josko Gvadiol's unexpected goal tally: "Absolutely unexpected. He is unbelievable with both feet. Normally the left is difficult to find, he is more comfortable with his right. Big goal at Santiago Bernabeu, goal today with the right foot. Second half he was not at his best, lot a lot of balls, and as a defender you have to be tight. For him to add the goals he is it is more than welcome, but he has to be more tight. But he is 21 years old he will improve.

Image source, Getty Images

The title is almost in Manchester City's grasp. Arsenal have been pushing them hard this season but will need a slip-up from Pep Guardiola's men to beat them to the Premier League trophy and, on this showing, such a slip-up looks unlikely.

Fulham have nothing to play for as they close out the season but they'd still no doubt like to have a say in the title race. However, they ultimately offered little against a Manchester City side that dominated this game from start to finish.

Guardiola's team are scoring lots of goals and not conceding many and that, coupled with their nerveless displays, makes for a deadly combination as they chase a fourth consecutive Premier League title.

Eyes now turn to Old Trafford on Sunday where Arsenal arguably need a win against Manchester United to take the title race to the final day of the season.

• Manchester City have won each of their past seven Premier League games by at least two goals; their joint-longest run of victories when winning by more than one goal each time (previously a run of seven between May and August 2015).

• Fulham have lost each of their past 13 games against Manchester City in the Premier League – the only team to suffer more consecutive defeats against an opponent is Bournemouth, with their run also being against Manchester City (an active streak of 14).

• Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has won all 13 of his games against Marco Silva, his best 100% record against an opposition manager in his career. Guardiola’s sides have scored 44 goals across the 13 matches, while only conceding eight times in return.

• Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne now ranks joint-second for assists in the Premier League (111 – level with Cesc Fabregas), with only Ryan Giggs making more(162).

• Phil Foden scored his 25th goal of the season for Manchester City, becoming just the second English player to score 25+ in a season for the club in the Premier League era (across all competitions), after Raheem Sterling in 2018-19 (25) and 2019-20 (31).

• After not scoring in any of his first 32 appearances for Manchester City across all competitions, Josko Gvardiol has netted five goals in his past seven games for the club. None of his five goals for the club have been scored with his left foot (four right-footed and one header).

Josko Gvardiol scored twice as Manchester City put the pressure on Arsenal in the title race by beating Fulham to move two points clear at the top of the Premier League.

In a game they dominated from start to finish, the visitors opened the scoring early on when defender Gvardiol produced a clinical finish after a good move opened up the Fulham defence.

Phil Foden then continued his excellent form this season with a second after the break, sending a first-time finish past Bernd Leno.

Erling Haaland should have added a third midway through the second half but the Premier League’s top scorer somehow drove high over when through on goal.

But Manchester City did not have to wait long for another goal as Gvardiol stabbed in at the far post to put the result beyond Fulham.

Issa Diop was shown a second yellow card in stoppage time as he brought down Julain Alvarez inside the box, and the Manchester City substitute then duly converted the penalty.

The result means the Gunners head to Manchester United on Sunday needing to win to be certain of taking the title race to the final day of the season.

Manchester City are at Tottenham on Tuesday and if Arsenal fail to get a positive result at Old Trafford then victory will seal a fourth consecutive Premier League title for Guardiola's side.

Were you at the ground or following along from home?

Fulham fans, give us your thoughts on the game

Tell us what you made of the performance, City supporters

Follow all the reaction here

There are eight Premier League games taking place today, and you can stay updated with all of them via our live page.

Keep up with all the action and reaction here.

Chris Sutton is making predictions for every Premier League game this season against a variety of guests.

For this weekend's matches, he takes on Kasabian frontman Serge Pizzorno.

Sutton's prediction: 1-3

Fulham have had a good season but their performances have maybe dropped off a bit in recent weeks, while Manchester City are hitting their best form.

We know Marco Silva's side can be dangerous because they have taken four points off Arsenal, so this is still a tricky game for City - but they are so efficient that I cannot see them slipping up.

Serge's prediction: 0-3

I feel like this is the hardest game City have got left, but I still think they will win it. I reckon Erling Haaland will get them an early goal and as soon as that goes in, that will calm their nerves.

Read all of the predictions here

Pep Guardiola is on course to guide Manchester City to a fourth straight top flight title for the first time in English football history but would it be enough to earn him the Premier League's manager of the season?

Former City midfielder Michael Brown tells The Football News Show why that achievement should see the Spaniard win the award ahead of Aston Villa's Unai Emery.

Watch The Football News Show on BBC iPlayer

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game at Fulham (12:30 BST kick-off)

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Guardiola confirmed there are no fresh injury concerns and said "the environment" at the club is why they are not struggling with injuries like other teams.

• He refused claims that Fulham's players could be 'on the beach' this weekend: "Never in my career have I met a manager or player who doesn’t want to win. Never ever in my life."

• On midfielder Mateo Kovacic's first season at the club: "He played really well, because he has not played in the position of [Ilkay] Gundogan. His contribution against Nottingham Forest - he changed the game. Really, really good."

• On Fulham boss Marco Silva: "I admire him a lot. Not just at Fulham, but Watford too. Offensively and defensively, they are very good."

• When asked whether he will be a Manchester United fan for one day on Sunday when they host City's title rivals Arsenal, he smiled and replied: "I'm a Manchester City fan."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences

Former Premier League midfielder Michael Brown tells The Football News Show why Phil Foden would get his vote to be Premier League player of the season.

Watch The Football News Show on BBC iPlayer