Manchester City

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Pep Guardiola spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Manchester City's victory against Salford: "We finally won a game with a good margin, all respect for Salford. It was not easy with the man marking but we were clinical up front and happy with the performance."

On Jack Grealish ending his goal drought: "He made a good assist as well, not just the goal. He scored a goal, made an assist. Jack's a special player, not always one to score a lot of goals but it depends on him.

"If he can perform well, he'll take the opportunity to keep going and going.

"All the players depend on the performance in training sessions and when they have minutes to play. It's simple, not just for Jack, for all of them.

"I've been manager here for more than 500 games and we've made an incredible 487 or 488 games. Then we had 11, 12 or 13 bad games.

"The problem that we've had is that we've had an incredible amount of injuries so we could not train and we could not compete. It's so difficult but step by step, people are coming back.

"This season or maybe next season, new players come in and you have to fight for your position. When someone pushes you, you have competition and you give your best."

Tell us your thoughts on Man City's performance here

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Manchester City midfielder James Macatee spoke to BBC March of the Day after Saturday's FA Cup victory against Salford: "I was quite frustrated in the first half, wasn't seeing much of the ball. When the first one went in, my confidence was up and I kept scoring.

"I've been here since I was 10 and it's a special moment for me. Something I'll remember forever. I don't think I needed to prove myself but to get out there and show people what I can do, it's a good moment for me."

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Manchester City's performance

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

The FA Cup third round continues on Saturday, with several Premier League sides in action:

• Bournemouth v West Bromwich Albion

• Chelsea v Morecambe

• Norwich v Brighton

• Nottingham Forest v Luton

• Brentford v Plymouth Argyle - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Manchester City v Salford City (17:45) - watch on BBC One, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website & app

All times GMT and kick-off at 15:00 unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction

BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton has made his predictions for all 32 FA Cup third round games and given his verdict on who will make it into round four.

For this week's matches he is up against actor and musician Billy Bob Thornton, who is a Liverpool fan.

Sutton's prediction: 5-0

Salford are doing quite well in League Two, where they have won six games on the spin, and there is a nice edge to this this game with their owners being Manchester United legends.

I do not see any surprises here, though. Manchester City have won their past two games and Pep Guardiola will want to continue to slowly build some more momentum following their dreadful form towards the end of the year.

Pep always fields strong teams in the FA Cup and Saturday will be no different. He has given Jack Grealish a bit of a kick up the backside this week, so we might see a response from him.

Thornton's prediction: 5-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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The FA Cup third round is well under way, with Premier League sides Everton, Fulham and Aston Villa the clubs already booking their places in the fourth-round draw with wins on Thursday and Friday.

But for other sides hoping for a healthy cup run this season, when will the draw take place?

The draw will be live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer following the conclusion of the Arsenal v Manchester United tie, which kicks off at 15:00 GMT on Sunday.

It will include 32 teams - with all third-round matches this weekend settled on the day - and the resulting ties will be played over the weekend commencing Saturday, 8 February.

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has been speaking to the media before Saturday's FA Cup third-round tie at home to League Two side Salford City (17:45).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Guardiola said Ruben Dias "feels better but [is] not ready" and he is unsure when he will return, but Oscar Bobb is back in partial training and the broken bone in his foot has "healed".

• He added: "Ederson is fine, but John Stones - no."

• He did not comment on reported interest in Eintracht Frankfurt and Egypt forward Omar Marmoush: "I was clear in my answer - I'm not going to talk. He's a player from another club. I'm not saying an answer. I'm not going to answer one question [on transfers]."

• Guardiola feels a connection to Saturday's opponents: "I've lived in Salford for the past eight years so I will be playing against my neighbourhood, my home town. The past six games, six clean sheets and six victories, so I have huge respect for them and what they do - the intensity - and we will take it seriously, like we always have done."

• On the Class of 92's involvement at Salford: "I saw Gary Neville. I don't know all the other players involved but they are smart people, I'm sure of that, and when people from football run clubs they take smart decisions."

• On Erling Haaland's fitness struggles: "This year, I had a feeling he is incredibly focused. When you have a focus and your target is to be fit, always you are fit. Our physio takes care of him really well. He spends a lot of time here - that's why he's ready. With the amount of situations we should use him more than we expect, but he handles it really well."

Follow all of Friday's FA Cup news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Watch Man City v Salford City live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 17:30 on Saturday

Listen to full commentary of Man City v Salford City from 17:45 on Saturday on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

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Salford City head coach Karl Robinson says his side have had "difficulties" preparing for their FA Cup third round tie against Manchester City on Saturday because of bad weather and freezing temperatures.

Less than ideal conditions in England's north west have left the League Two side searching for somewhere to train this week.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, Robinson said: "We have had difficulties, as you can imagine. We have ended up training at The Cliff. Luckily enough, it's just round the corner and they still have the indoor facility there which we have been very thankful for.

"The problem we have got is that it's only 50 yards wide and 80 yards long, and I can honestly say to you that the size of Manchester City's pitch is going to feel a lot bigger than that.

"We have had to do our best to give ourselves the greatest opportunity to put a performance on, but we are very thankful that we had somewhere to train this week.

"We did think about asking Manchester City but we thought it was a little bit stupid. We got asked to play them in a reserve game last Monday, and we gladly declined that one."

Borussia Dortmund have made an approach for Manchester City's 19-year-old English defender Max Alleyne. (Fabrizio Romano, external)

Pep Guardiola's side are also working on a deal to sign 18-year-old Brazilian defender Vitor Reis from Palmeiras. (Athletic, external)

Finally, ex-City midfielder Douglas Luiz, now of Juventus, is attracting interest from his former club. (Mail, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

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This is the first ever meeting between Manchester City and Salford City and the League Two side's first every appearance in the FA Cup third round.

City have won their past 17 matches when facing an opponent for the first time in all competitions since a 2-1 loss to Lyon in September 2018.

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Manchester City's biggest mistake was getting rid of Julian Alvarez in the summer because he was a good back-up to Erling Haaland.

He would have been useful given Haaland's record this season and their lack of options, so they need to replace Alvarez either in this transfer window or the summer.

City might also look for another attacking midfielder as Kevin de Bruyne does not look fit or happy at the moment and Phil Foden hasn't hit the same form this season either.

They need legs in midfield. They have lost Rodri and because of that they have lost their control which is what was key for them and their successes. I am not sure whether January is the right market to bring in a couple of midfielders, so that might have to wait until the summer but they need at least one now.

I would say Pep Guardiola's side look old but I don't like to use that word because when I was a player and 'old' it used to upset me!

Sometimes when you have lost control of a game you do look like you are treading water and the distances look a bit bigger than they normally are. But when you have an organiser like Rodri it doesn't look that bad.

It is because of the lack of control that they don't look like the Manchester City we are used to seeing.

Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes has been a previous target but I am not sure if he is someone who would sit in the midfield with discipline like Rodri and get the squad ticking again.

If I was Pep Guardiola I would just re-assess the squad in the summer. If you do it now then it will be more rushed and expensive.

The points between City and Liverpool are probably too far stretched in the Premier League now so I would wait and just focus on one midfielder and centre-half for January.

Fara Williams was speaking to BBC Sport's Katie Stafford

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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Manchester City are targeting defensive pair Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis during the current transfer window.

City manager Pep Guardiola wants to strengthen a squad which has been badly affected by injuries during an unprecedented downturn in fortunes under the 53-year-old.

In his last transfer window as sources say City's director of football Txiki Begiristain is determined signings should fit the club's long term plan.

At 20 and 18, Khusanov and Reis appear to do that.

Khusanov is a central defender for French club Lens and the Uzbekistan national team. He was part of the Uzbek side that won the Under-20 Asian Cup, which brought him to the attention of clubs in the major European leagues. If he signed for City, Khusanov would become the first player from his country to play in the Premier League.

Reis has broken into the famous Palmeiras side in Brazil.

Already this month he has been linked with Wolves and Brighton but City believe they can sign the player.

A figure of €40m (£33.5m) has been mentioned but it is not known whether this would include a number of clauses.

German clubs Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, Mainz, Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart are all chasing Manchester City midfielder James McAtee, 22. (Telegraph - subscription required, external)

City are in advanced talks to sign Uzbekistan centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov, 20, in a £30m deal with Lens. (Teamtalk, external)

The club are also considering a move for Nottingham Forest and Nigeria full-back Ola Aina, 28. (GiveMeSport, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Gary Rose
BBC Sport journalist

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It is well documented that the arrival of Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola to the Premier League coincided with the increase in popularity of a ball-playing goalkeeper.

One of his first actions was to replace Joe Hart with Claudio Bravo, before bringing in Ederson in the summer of 2017.

The Brazil goalkeeper, who had been an outfield player as a youngster, was brought in largely because of his excellent passing ability and comfort with the ball at his feet.

With Ederson in goal, Manchester City won a first Premier League title under Guardiola in 2017-18 after amassing a record-breaking 100 points.

The statistics suggest that from then, playing out from the back was becoming more popular with the percentage of goal-kicks landing in the opposition half - which had not deviated from about 75% for a number of seasons - dropping to 67.8% the following season.

It has continued to drop after that, although there was another reason that had a significant contribution.

For 2019-20, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) introduced a new rule allowing goalkeepers to pass the ball to team-mates inside their penalty area from goal-kicks, having previously only been allowed to pass outside the box.

At the time, the body said this change would result in "a faster and more dynamic/constructive restart to the game" that would "reduce time lost/wasted", suggesting it would cut down on defenders time wasting by playing the ball before it leaves the area - knowing it would result in the goal-kick being retaken.

The rule was buried among several other changes, suggesting the lawmakers perhaps didn't quite anticipate the impact it would have.

But since then goal-kicks have got shorter and shorter, and now it is common to see two centre-backs standing alongside the goalkeeper inside their own area in preparation to build an attack.

Read more from Gary on the evolution of goalkeepers

Manchester City are interested in a deal to sign 25-year-old Egypt forward Omar Marmoush, who is valued at £50m by Eintracht Frankfurt. (Espn, external)

But, Eintracht are yet to receive an offer from City for Marmoush. (Sky Germany, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Freddie Pye
Fan writer

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Contrary to some beliefs, Jack Grealish has been far from a failure at Manchester City. The 29-year-old, despite his lack of goals and assists, brings a unique trait to the way Pep Guardiola wants his side to play.

Nobody can retain possession in the way Grealish can. Nobody can maintain a stranglehold of possession facing opposition defenders in the way Grealish can. Nobody can draw the focus of opposing players in attacking areas for City in the way Grealish can. And nobody can keep City penned into opposition final thirds in the way Grealish can.

It is all of those components that have allowed some of City's attacking players to flourish in recent seasons, and a large portion of the club's success in pinning opposition teams back during their Treble-winning 2022-23 campaign can be credited to the former Aston Villa captain.

But as City look to refresh, rebuild and reinvent a squad some believe has been found out - but is almost certainly just ageing and requiring a fresh impetus - Grealish may need to be a casualty in the summer transfer window, unless he can adapt and transition into a new role.

Much of that will depend on Guardiola's attempts to reposition a player he has put so much faith in, and one he believes in more than anyone else.

Savinho's recent success on the left has illustrated exactly how well Manchester City can attack and get the very best out of Erling Haaland during a troubling season for the striker at times. Not even Jeremy Doku has been able to supply the assists for the 24-year-old that Savinho fashioned against Leicester City and West Ham United.

And for Grealish - a player who has always struggled to make his mark in goal contributions - the time has come for him to excel and impress in an entirely different role, or accept that the future of Manchester City may not require or include his skillset.

Find more from Freddie Pye at City Xtra, external

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BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty has been answering your questions.

R asked: Will their lack of European fixtures favour Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United in the race for a Champions League place? Aston Villa, Manchester City, and Chelsea (who look to have the easiest route) will all want a say. On current form, I think Liverpool and Arsenal get two spots. Who gets the others?

Phil answered: It will certainly help them to keep a freshness about their squads, as we saw when Newcastle United were in the Champions League last season and their league performances declined.

On current form, I still say Manchester City and - with not much confidence at all - Chelsea. And I mean not much confidence at all.

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has made it perfectly clear he wants to bring new faces into the club this month to help them out in what has been an incredibly testing few weeks.

Yet, even for a club of City's size, success and wealth, doing deals is not straight forward.

Eintracht Frankfurt forward Omar Marmoush has scored 18 goals so far this season. The Egyptian is a player City like.

The same is also true of Atalanta's Brazilian midfielder Ederson.

Yet Eintracht are battling for a Champions League place in the Bundesliga and Atalanta are top of Serie A and in with a shot at winning the title for the first time in their history. What is the financial incentive for either club to sell now?

Uzbekistan defender Abdukodir Khusanov may be a more realistic target given the 20-year-old is with French club Lens, but I am told a deal is a long way off at the moment.