Manchester City

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Manchester City's Manuel Akanji says he "tried to protect" new signing Abdukodir Khusanov after his fellow defender endured a difficult start to his debut in Sunday's 3-1 win over Chelsea.

Khusanov misjudged a header back to goalkeeper Ederson which allowed the Blues to open the scoring and was booked for a rash lunge on Cole Palmer within the first four minutes.

However, City recovered to secure an important win and the 20-year-old, who signed for £33.6m from French club Lens earlier this week, had the support of Akanji who started alongside him in central defence.

"I tried to protect him and not bring him into situations where it could be really tricky, especially against a team like Chelsea who have so many good individual players," the Switzerland international said post-match.

"I just tried to lift him up and tell him not to think too much but to keep on going, maybe play the safer pass back to Eddy [Ederson] in his next action and win his next duel to get his confidence back. I think that's the only thing you can really do.

"Obviously it wasn't a good start but I think he recovered really well. It's not easy to play first match here at home against Chelsea. Even after that, we tried to lift him up, and I think he did well after that. He showed his best, and he has got plenty more games to show."

City boss Pep Guardiola said he will "have to learn Russian or Uzbek" to communicate with Khusanov because of his lack of English, but Akanji believes the language barrier will not be an issue for long.

"He says he understands English better than French so I speak English with him," he added.

"I think he will improve his English - he needs to because we need to communicate. It's especially important as centre-backs so we can help our teammates around us.

"I think he understands a lot. He can't really talk good yet but it will come definitely."

Highlights and analysis from Saturday's six Premier League fixtures are now available to watch.

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

Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Wolves 0-1 Arsenal

• Man City 3-1 Chelsea

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "We struggled lately and it has been a tough, tough season. Most players have been here eight or nine years and I am not going to change my opinion in two months.

"We have to realise it is not enough what we are doing. I ask them to step up and we did it. We created enough chances to score goals and in the end I am really pleased for the victory.

"Of course we need fresh legs with Omar [Marmoush] and [Abdukodir] Khusanov and now we have a final Champions League game on Wednesday."

On Khusanov's error: "It is not easy for him. He trains once and then to play against [Nicolas] Jackson and Cole [Palmer] and [noni} Madueke and [Jadon] Sancho. It is a process when you buy a player this young. He will learn. These kinds of actions are the best lesson you can take."

On Marmoush's debut: "Really good. That connection with other players and incredible movement. It is the first game and he deals with the change and he makes unbelievable movements."

On City's improvement: "If we don't pass the ball, we are one of the worst teams. We need the ball to survive."

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Manchester City have won more points from losing positions than any other side in the Premier League this season (17). Five of their 12 wins so far have come after conceding the first goal.

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Man City's performance

What did you make of Chelsea's display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Six matches make up Saturday's Premier League action.

• Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest

• Brighton v Everton

• Liverpool v Ipswich

• Southampton v Newcastle

• Wolves v Arsenal - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Man City v Chelsea (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

All kick-off times 15:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

Well, so much for City being 'back' after beating Leicester, West Ham and Ipswich recently. What happened against Paris St-Germain was more evidence that they are nowhere near their usual selves.

The number of signings they are making is maybe an admission from Pep Guardiola of how much needs to change.

The pressure is really on City in the Champions League now after Wednesday's defeat in Paris, but they have got some tough games coming up in the Premier League too, starting with this one.

Saturday is not just a case of Cole Palmer returning to his former club as a potential match-winner, because Chelsea's manager Enzo Maresca is also back on familiar territory.

This is a huge game in the race for the top four and it feels like anything could happen.

I definitely don't see City keeping Chelsea out, but my gut feeling is still that they will win this.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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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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."

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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Manchester City are unbeaten in their past seven Premier League games against Chelsea (W5 D2), since a 2-1 home loss in May 2021.

After a run of just one win in nine Premier League games from the start of November (D2 L6), City have now won three of their past four (D1). They have scored 14 goals in this run, more than they had in their previous 11 league games (13).

This Premier League pursuit becomes a lot easier if you take your chances.

BBC Sport has checked in on some data comparing goals versus expected goals this season.

You can see from the bar graph some teams aren't finding the goals (yellow) to outstrip the expected goals they should score (black).

Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal, Brentford, Newcastle, Brighton, Fulham, Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Leicester have all scored more than expected.

Wolves in particular have found the net 32 times from an expected 23.56 - a significant overperformance.

League leaders Liverpool are pretty much bang on in returning what they should, while Arsenal have outperformed, with 43 goals from an expected 37.78.

Bournemouth - 36 goals from an expected 43 - are leaving opportunities on the table.

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Watching new Manchester City signing Omar Marmoush feels like "you're watching some magical performance happen in front of you," according to Bundesliga reporter Archie Rhind-Tutt.

But despite such praise, he doesn't know if he will be the perfect fit for the club.

Speaking about the Egyptian on the latest episode of BBC Radio 5 Live's Euro Leagues, Rhind-Tutt said: "If he was playing through the middle I'd have more confidence of him fitting in, but they've got a guy up front who's just signed a nine year deal, so I wonder where he'll fit in and how he will.

"At Frankfurt he's proven himself as an incredibly quick, skilful, excellent reader of the game, sky high confidence, shooting technique out of this world, free-kicks - first player since Lionel Messi in Europe's top five leagues to score three free-kicks in consecutive games this season - he's on fire.

"When you watch him live, it does feel like you're watching some magical performance happen in front of you, just seeing someone like that - it's so engaging.

"The question is Pep Guardiola likes to have control in a game, and very specific moments of explosion. So I wonder how Marmoush, who has not been this explosively good until this half of the season with Frankfurt, how he will adapt to that.

"It's going to be fascinating to see how they work together. There is a player there. Being at Frankfurt on Friday and seeing how he was waved off by his team-mates and crowd was really beautiful.

"It's usually not the case when a player leaves for greater things where everybody is happy. It was nice to see a player get that appreciation in the moment."

BBC Sport columnist Guillem Balague also questioned whether the 25-year-old will fit into Guardiola's style and said: "I think he's a mixture of [Mohamed] Salah and Julian Alvarez - not really a winger, not really a number nine - he can be a number nine and has been, but he can fit in with another forward.

"Manchester City put a lot of players in front of the ball, as long as he does his role without the ball then that's it, that's the player they need to score goals as well."

Listen to the full episode here