Manchester

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

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If you looked ahead at Chelsea's upcoming visit to Etihad Stadium after Manchester City's rampant 6-0 win over Ipswich on Sunday, you could understandably have feared for Enzo Maresca's side.

City had appeared to have emerged from the malaise than engulfed them in late 2024, going unbeaten in their first six games after the turn of the year - culminating in the devastating attacking display at Portman Road.

Chelsea, meanwhile, were on a five-game winless run in the Premier League and had slid from title contenders to top-four hopefuls.

But, narratives change rapidly in football. The Blues returned to winning ways with a 3-1 success over Wolves on Monday evening, before Paris St-Germain exposed the fragility that remains at City by coming from 2-0 down to win 4-2 on Wednesday.

Defeat in Paris was a result that leaves Pep Guardiola's side in real danger of failing to progress past the League Phase of the Champions League and a performance described as "one of the most chilling and chastening nights" of the Spaniard's reign by BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty.

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The collapse in Paris exposed City's frailties in full back positions. Josko Gvardiol had one his poorest performances yet for the club at left back while Matheus Nunes - a midfielder by trade - looked completely out of his depth on the right hand side.

The speed, trickery and directness of Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue and in the second half Ousmane Dembele, was a constant issue for Guardiola's side who afforded the pacey wingers far too much space.

Joao Neves' breaking up of the play and sharpness in the tackle helped build attack after attack with the ball constantly being fed quickly into wide areas. PSG operated without a conventional number nine and the link-up play between the wingers, Lee Kang-In in the predominantly central position, and the full backs pushing up the pitch had City on the back foot whenever they moved at speed.

If Chelsea aim to replicate the success of the French champions, Pedro Neto and Noni Madueke will be encouraged to stay high and wide and attack City's under-fire full backs from minute one - whether they remain the same or if a different makeshift solution is found.

Nicolas Jackson's ability to link play is his most underappreciated attribute while Moises Caicedo has won more tackles than any other midfielder in the Premier League this season.

Chelsea have not beaten Saturday's opponents in 10 meetings, dating back to the 2021 Champions League final in Porto.

Given their overall resurgence under Maresca, and the uncharacteristic brittleness shown by City in recent months, this is surely the most confidence Chelsea will take into a meeting between the two sides since then.

Striker Omar Marmoush looks set to make his Manchester City debut against Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday, but how does he compare with former City striker Julian Alvarez, who was sold to Atletico Madrid last summer?

Ex-City midfielder Michael Brown tells The Football News Show why he believes Marmoush is not an instant improvement and where he will fit into Pep Guardiola's tactics...

Watch The Football News Show on BBC iPlayer

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At the beginning of a season, players set goals and long-term team objectives goals are spoken about. It doesn't matter whether it's survival, a trophy or top six - there are always visions.

When you are not meeting those targets, it is difficult to keep believing that you will achieve them.

Both Spurs and United will be disappointed in their season so far but also in how they have fought. Pride is so important and it is something that has always been there in the teams I've played in. Even if you lose motivation as a player, you should always have individual pride to play for.

The bare minimum you expect from these players is effort because they are playing at such big clubs. In United's case, that was there against Liverpool and Arsenal but there was less of it against Southampton and Brighton.

That is their biggest difficulty because you need everyone to be motivated and sometimes when things are not going well, one or two players can lose it and give up. That does not help the collective.

It is hard to pull people with you when there are only a few of you that are still motivated and driven to do better.

Results and momentum help confidence and belief to come back, which in turn re-motivates players. There are still enough league games to achieve this and a few wins can soon carry them up the table.

Fara Williams was speaking to BBC Sport's Katie Stafford

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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Manchester United winger Antony has been granted permission to travel to Spain for a medical to complete a loan move to Real Betis.

United sources say the deal is covering a minimum of 84% of Antony's salary, plus bonuses and will see him spend the rest of the season on loan with the La Liga side.

The Brazilian cost £81.3m when United signed him in August 2022, and he has scored 12 goals, three of which came in his first three Premier League games.

Antony has only scored one league goal since April 2023.

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says he was "a lucky man" to work alongside Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca before their two sides meeting on Saturday.

Maresca was manager of City's Elite Development Squad between 2020 and 2021 before returning as one of Guardiola's assistant managers between 2022 and 2023.

Chelsea appointed Maresca at the start of the season, after he took Leicester to the Championship title in his first year in management, and the Blues lost 4-2 to City during pre-season and 2-0 on the opening day, external of the Premier League at Stamford Bridge.

However, uncharacteristically poor form from City since and an impressive start for Maresca sees his side arrive at Etihad Stadium on Saturday two points above their opponents in fourth place.

"I recognised his Chelsea team from day one, even when we played them in the summer camp in the States," Guardiola said.

"Many things I started to see that we spoke about many, many times in the last years together. Really good.

"I'm very pleased. I was a lucky man to work with him in the last years, and everything that happens with his family and him being fine, then I'm fine. I'm happy for him."

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Fulham (kick-off 19:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Amorim was asked if any players picked up injuries in the win over Rangers and said: "Leny [Yoro] has a pain, also Matthijs de Ligt. I think was a bruise, a touch. Leny was a little bit tired - he's playing more in this moment so we have to be really careful."

• Left-back Luke Shaw, who has made two substitute appearances in the Premier League this season, is "going to be fit to train with the team" and then "he has to make extra work to improve his fitness".

• Midfielder Casemiro has been unused in 10 of the past 13 matches and Amorim said: "I have to make some choices. I want to play a style of game that is sometimes different from other coaches and I have to choose based on that. That's all."

• Captain Bruno Fernandes was praised by his manager after his late winner against Rangers, with Amorim stating: "He's a top player and then people talk a lot about his frustration, always with his arms in the air. Sometimes it's not a good thing to see but you have to see the other side. When you are under pressure, he's always the guy that wants the ball, he's always available. And that is so important - especially in the Premier League. And then he can run. And he runs a lot. He fights a lot."

• Amorim continued: "You have two sides and I have to help him manage both situations. But we are lucky to have a player like Bruno Fernandes. Sometimes he makes mistakes - like me last week. But he's really important and he has passion. This is so important to be a football player."

• On whether Marcus Rashford will be reintegrated into the squad if he remains at the club, Amorim said: "I don't know. I really don't know. Guys, it's eight days. We will see in the end of the window what happened. And then we will talk about that in the moment."

• Amorim was unsure if the late win over Rangers will give the team belief because his players are not getting to have an "internship" whereby they get to spend time training regularly as a a group.

• He continued: "Sometimes, that detail is really important. Pre-season, creating, spending three weeks together, creating something, and then you want to create something new with the players. I want them to know me in a different way, not always preparing the matches with stress. We don't have the time to do that. I think it's really important and I think it's the secret of teams. Even when you have the best players, if you don't have that feeling it's really hard to win - so I want to build something like that here. But we need time for that."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has been speaking to the media before Saturday's visit of Chelsea in the Premier League (17:30 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Guardiola confirmed "the players we had out are [still] out", including winger Jeremy Doku, who "felt something" during Sunday's win at Ipswich, and defender Ruben Dias, who has an abductor problem with no scheduled return date.

• On City's three new signings: "Vitor [Reis] is young, he has a huge personality, needs time. [Abdukodir] Khusanov has already settled for the fact that he played in the French league, handling tough, quick, fast players. But he doesn't speak much English so communication will be one of the situations that we have to deal with. [Omar] Marmoush - I think he will adapt quickly..."

• He added he does not know where the new acquisitions will fit into his team yet.

• On how important new blood in his squad could be: "New players can help, of course. They are here for that reason. Again, this could not happen without the amount of circumstances that we had."

• Guardiola believes Saturday's meeting is key: "Really important. We are very close in the table, even with the big, big problems we had in the recent past. The next two games [against Chelsea and Club Brugge in the Champions League] are really, really important - finals for us. Our people will support us."

• Asked how much of a blow not qualifying for the Champions League next season would be, Guardiola said: "We can make it. Why should I think differently? I think it is going to happen. I am very, very positive."

• On how impressed he has been by Chelsea this season, managed by his former assistant Enzo Maresca: "I recognised his team from day one, even when we played them in the summer camp in the States. Many things I started to see that we spoke about many, many times in the last years together. Really good."

Listen to full live commentary of Man City v Chelsea on BBC 5 Live at 17:30 on Saturday

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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Since losing twice at Fulham in 2009 (2-0 in March and 3-0 in December), Manchester United are unbeaten in eight Premier League visits to Craven Cottage, winning the past seven in a row.

Fulham have scored two goals in their past last five Premier League matches. Only once in their top-flight history have they netted two or more goals in six games in a row, doing so between February and April 1966.

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Gary Neville says Manchester United's "inconsistency has got to go" after an up-and-down start to Ruben Amorim's spell in charge.

United have won six, drawn three and lost seven since Amorim took over as boss but returned to winning ways on Thursday with a 2-1 Europa League victory over Rangers at Old Trafford.

But while Amorim has overseen wins over Manchester City and Arsenal, his side have suffered home defeats by Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Newcastle and Brighton.

"They don't choose when to work hard and when to care and when to play well," club legend Neville told BBC Northern Ireland before United's win over Rangers.

"What United players need to do is believe that when they're playing Brighton or Southampton that that is Arsenal or Liverpool.

"They can't decide or think 'it's OK today'. It's never OK at Manchester United, everyone wants to beat you."

Last week, Amorim described his team as "maybe the worst" in the 147-year history of the club after losing 3-1 at home to Brighton.

Asked for his view, Neville said: "No, I don't want to contribute to that.

"They're not doing very well and it's obvious that it's painful for United fans and everyone at the club.

"The players aren't doing very well at this moment in time but they are human beings."

The 49-year-old pundit added: "I've been there. Obviously at a very different time, but I was supported. I was lucky that I came into a club that had stability, a great manager and a great bunch of players.

"They don't have that at this moment and they have to start from somewhere and hopefully Ruben Amorim can turn this around."

Neville, who won eight Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues during his United career, was speaking to BBC News NI while in Belfast for an event at Queen's University.

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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Manchester United might be having their problems this season but young midfielder Toby Collyer is living the dream.

Collyer stated his first European game for United in their victory against Rangers.

The 21-year-old joined the club from Brighton in 2022 and has featured in the last four games under Ruben Amorim and has caught the eye with the energy he brings in the centre of the pitch.

"It is an unbelievable feeling," Collyer said after the 2-1 win. "These are the nights you dream of as a kid."

Not every United player has found it easy to adapt to head coach Amorim's training methods.

However, if they can cement a place in the Europa League top eight, they will avoid the need for play-offs in February, which will create some space in the calendar.

And Collyer feels that will be a major benefit.

"Training is really intense," he said. "He (Amorim) demands a lot from everyone, which is really good. It means we can improve as individuals and as a team.

"We haven't had many sessions but the more we have, the better we will get."