Manchester City

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says only Jack Grealish and Josko Gvardiol will be missing from the squad for Tuesday's game with Brentford.

Grealish has been struggling with a groin injury while Gvardiol has an ankle problem.

On City's form, he added: "Since we lost to Aston Villa, we have won our games and been better but I can’t guarantee anything - but we are still there.

"I understand completely the doubts from the people, but what I'm seeing, I'm more than satisfied."

Adam: Hi Phil, with what's happening with Dan Ashworth are we now more than ever witnessing the rise of football/technical directors to the point of them held at the same regard as managers/head coaches?

Phil: He has been placed on gardening leave by Newcastle after telling them he wants to join Manchester United, so the next move is up to INEOS to agree some sort of compensation package to get him to Old Trafford as soon as possible.

Not sure we are quite at the point where they are regarded as highly or as important as managers but there is no question their significance is growing as more clubs follow the sporting director/director of football model.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was asked, in a roundabout way, what he thinks about Kylian Mbappe amid reports the France forward has met CFG officials.

Mbappe has told PSG he will leave them at the end of the season.

"He is quite good," said Guardiola. "He has a future."

Think that is an understatement.

Manchester City

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola on if his side are under pressure: "No. We have the same pressure each game.

"The last 15 games, we won 13 and drew two and the ones we drew we had the same pressure to win the game.

"In general we were more than decent against Chelsea but I know our standards - it is not easy to sustain those for a long, long time, but we have done it.

"If we had 3-0 against Chelsea, the fire would be the same to win this next game."

Pep Guardiola has just stepped into the press conference room at the club's training ground wearing an army green-coloured hoody ready to take questions.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

Manchester City fill the gap in their fixture list tomorrow night when they entertain Brentford in a game postponed due to their participation in the Club World Cup in December.

City won that tournament in Saudi Arabia, part of an overall 11-match winning streak in all competitions that drove Pep Guardiola's men into pole position in the Premier League title race.

That all changed on Saturday when City struggled even to get a point against Chelsea, meaning victory against Brentford is now hugely important given, unusually, they don't have a goal difference advantage over main rivals Liverpool and Arsenal.

Guardiola needs to get his team selection right, which may involve starting Bernardo Silva, and hope striker Erling Haaland has his shooting boots on.

Stephen: Most commentators say Man City are favourites to retain the Premier League. As a City fan, I see them as significantly underperforming compared to the last few seasons. Reasons include selling top players (gutting to see Sterling and Palmer playing for Chelsea), a smaller squad of top players, and replacements like Nunes and Doku being nowhere near the standard yet. Can you give a balanced view of City's performance versus recent years?

Phil: Hello Stephen. I take your point and agree with it to a certain extent. I don’t think City have quite hit the heights of recent years but there was always going to be a dip at some point and I’d still put them among the favourites for all the big prizes.

It is a sign of how good they are that they are in such a good position despite not being consistently at their best.

Jeremy Doku has shown his quality in flashes while Matheus Nunes has not had many chances so it is too early to make any definitive judgement on them. And don’t forget many of Pep Guardiola’s signings sometimes take a season to fully settle in to life at Manchester City.

I’d still be amazed if they didn’t win at least one big trophy this season.

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City

Image source, Getty Images

After their 1-1 draw with Chelsea at the weekend, Pep Guardiola will be seeking some sort of reaction from his Manchester City players when they face Brentford on Tuesday evening.

Guardiola will be giving his thoughts on the Premier League title race, and provide any team news updates, at a news conference scheduled for 12:30 GMT.

We will, of course, bring you all the key things he has to say.

Everton

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Everton's Karoline Olesen will be sidelined for a "short period" but avoided a serious injury against West Ham on Sunday.

The midfielder left the pitch on a stretcher in the closing stages of the win over the Hammers and Toffees boss Brian Sorensen feared the worst.

But Everton confirmed that Olesen, 19, had stitches in her thigh and will begin rehabilitation.

Everton

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Everton earned their first Women's Super League home win of the season yesterday thanks to late goals from Martina Piemonte and Aurora Galli.

In a hard-fought game against West Ham, second-half substitute Piemonte opened the scoring in the 83rd minute when she headed in a Galli free-kick.

Piemonte then teed up fellow Italian Galli with four minutes to go and she lashed a powerful effort into the top corner. Everton ended a run of four straight WSL defeats with the victory at Walton Hall Park.

Read the full report here...

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

Seeing Harry Styles in the distance at Kenilworth Road on Sunday was not my only brush with fame.

I held a door open for Dua Lipa at the 2018 Champions League Final between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Kiev. She was very, very polite as I recall.

I also once encountered former cricket England coach Andy Flower when he was queueing to pay for fuel in the M&S at a garage in Oxford. It was just before the 2019 cricket World Cup so I asked him about England’s chances: “Semi-final at the very, very least.” Happily a step further.

He was incredibly friendly and charming. Not the fearsome character some who played under him portrayed. Then again, he might have been fearsome and more besides had he seen me playing cricket.

Image source, Getty Images

Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Sport Wales

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Former Wales manager Chris Coleman is a leading candidate to succeed Stephen Kenny as Republic of Ireland boss.

The Republic of Ireland have been without a manager since Kenny's three-year tenure ended in November 2023.

Coleman, who won 32 caps for Wales as a centre-back, led his country to the Euro 2016 semi-finals during his time in charge between 2012 and 2017.

The former Fulham and Sunderland boss has been out of work since leaving Greek club Atromitos last October.

Read the full story here...

The BBC Match of the Day crew were fulsome in their praise of Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard after his standout display in the Gunners' 5-0 win at Burnley on Saturday.

"The first man to press - everything positive from Arsenal came from him," lauded Shay Given. "A special performance - he led by example".

"He's got great durability as well - he always seems to play, great fitness," added Danny Murphy.

Dave in Devon: Hi Phil. Arsenal's form so far in 2024 has been fantastic - where would you rank them in the race for the title? Does City's and Liverpool's experience of winning the Premier League give them the advantage?

Phil: Hi Dave. I would rate them as being right in the title race. Their form tells you that. I think they have got a great chance. I would make them third favourites behind Manchester City and Liverpool but there is barely anything between them at the moment so I think they have put themselves in a superb position.

The win against Liverpool was absolutely crucial in my opinion. If they had lost that game I believe their title challenge would have been over.

They may not have won titles recently but they have the experience of their disappointment last season. They will surely have learned from that.

With 13 games to go, Liverpool are perched atop of the Premier League - and former Reds midfielder Danny Murphy was mightily impressed with how they disposed of Brentford on Saturday.

"Probably the most impressive thing was how dynamic and ruthless they were - especially with the problems they had in terms of substitutions and injuries," Murphy told BBC Match of the Day.

Click on the video above for his full analysis.

Image source, Getty Images

Ravi from London: Will injuries derail Liverpool’s season? It is rumoured Jota is out for 2 months. Is he as important for Liverpool as Saliba was for Arsenal last year before he got injured?

Phil: Hello, Ravi. Well the injuries will not help that’s for sure but manager Jurgen Klopp is so adept at manouevring his squad and they are currently so confident that I am not sure it will derail them.

If he loses these influential players such as keeper Alisson and the likes of Jota for any length of time, then this is a serious problem. What I will say is that I feel Liverpool’s attacking resources mean they may be able to cope better without Jota than Arsenal did when they lost key defender Saliba last season.

Where they will certainly miss Jota is with his awareness and, particularly, his finishing, which is outstanding. So clinical. Missed, yes. Derailed, no.

Image source, Getty Images

Will: Morning Phil, do you think it's within Wolves’ reach to claim a European spot? Perhaps a shock FA cup win? We've seen they can match the big boys on their day.

Phil: Hello, Will. Not out of their reach at all, which is a testimony to the superb work done by manager Gary O’Neil. The win at Spurs on Saturday, and the manner in which it was achieved, shows how far they have come and you’re right – they fear no-one so they will always fancy their chances.

He has also clearly formed a great bond with the Wolves fans, as proved by the scenes after the final whistle on Saturday.

I thought O’Neil was unlucky to be sacked by Bournemouth, although they have recruited well with his replacement Andoni Areola.

So why not? There is plenty to play for. The loss of Matheus Cunha was a huge blow but they looked good without him at Spurs so you’re right to be optimistic.

I, of course, tipped them to be relegated but my only excuse was that I made that call in the brief period between Julen Lopetegui’s departure and O’Neil’s appointment. And I’m sticking to that.

Here's a story you might have missed from the weekend.

The German Bundesliga 2 match between Hansa Rostock and Hamburg was interrupted on Saturday by remote control cars carrying smoke bombs.

Two cars entered the pitch after 10 minutes, emitting blue and white smoke.

After a brief delay, stewards kicked the cars into touch before removing them so the game could restart.

There have been similar scenes across Germany in protest against a proposed deal to sell a stake in Bundesliga rights to a private equity investor.

Four of Saturday's five Bundesliga matches were interrupted by protests, with fans throwing chocolate coins and marbles on to the pitch.

Read the full story here...

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

Luton lost another home game to one of the Premier League's big guns but once again more illustrious visitors to Kenilworth Road were made to fight every inch of the way.

Manchester United joined rivals City and Arsenal in chalking up a narrow wins while Liverpool were held to a draw - and it is no surprise when Luton's approach in this wonderfully hostile environment is taken into account.

The Hatters could have been forgiven for thinking their day was done when they conceded two goals in only seven minutes but, galvanised by the home support, Rob Edwards' side responded superbly.

Luton faded after the break but showed enough to suggest they can make a real fight of things before the relegation places are decided, the standing ovation at the final whistle merited for their efforts.

Read my full match report from Manchester United's win over Luton here...

Luton Town

Speaking of Luton.... we've heard plenty of red card chat dominating the fallout from Sunday's Premier League games.

There was a sending-off at Bramall Lane as Luton's relegation rivals Sheffield United lost to Brighton - and Hatters boss Rob Edwards felt there should have been one at Kenilworth Road too.

Fair to say Casemiro was certainly treading a very fine line with the referee.