Manchester City

Speaking on a new episode of You'll Never Beat Kyle Walker on BBC Sounds, the Manchester City captain paid tribute to City team-mate and Ballon d'Or winner Rodri.

"For him, it's absolutely fantastic," said the England full-back. "I think he's been nothing short of probably perfect in the last couple of seasons. You can see what he means to Man City.

"I think this season we've adapted very well without him but in the last couple of seasons when he's not really been there, we've not really been the same Man City. The goals that he's scored, the assists that he's provided, it's not really a defensive midfielder.

"'Gundo' [Ilkay Gundogan] said something in a post someone sent me and for a defensive player to get that award, for us defensive-minded players it means a little bit more.

"If you look at the last 10-15 years, you've got Messi and Ronaldo without a shadow of a doubt, then Luka's [Modric] got it and then Benzema. It's recognition for the work that he's putting in without getting the headlines."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

As soon as Pep Guardiola answered my opening question at Friday's press conference with "you'll see tomorrow", I got the sense the Manchester City boss was not going to be too forthcoming about his side's injury issues.

Part of it will be to keep Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola guessing over who will be in the City side at Vitality Stadium, but part will also be because he is waiting to discover exactly who is available and for how long.

Guardiola accepted it is not unusual for clubs to suffer a long injury list. He also knows what a negative impact it can have.

He mentioned Liverpool. In 2022-23 Jurgen Klopp's men in the end did well to finish fifth, with 67 points, a year after they had finished second with 92.

That is the scenario Guardiola will be anxious to avoid this season.

City are top. But you get the sense if they win a fifth Premier League title in a row, he would regard this one as the best.

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Bournemouth (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Savinho could be available for Saturday's trip to Vitality Stadium as it was "just a strong knock" he suffered against Tottenham and "no fracture".

• Guardiola says he "has many doubts" about who else could recover in time and he will "talk to players and the doctors" on Saturday morning.

• He said "we are in an emergency in certain positions" but the academy players are there to support and he trusts them.

• More on City's growing injury list: "It is what it is. It happens in many clubs and we're not the only club in the world to be going through it."

• Guardiola said he has told the players to "not feel sorry for ourselves".

• He said "the squad is enough when completely focused and fit" in response to whether he will look to bring players in during the January transfer window.

• On whether a conversation needs to be had about the football calendar and its toll on players' health: "We know it [is too many games], but it is the reality. We try to take care of them. We’ve not done anything differently to previous seasons. If anything we’ve trained less. But it happens and you have to adapt."

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

Image source, PA Media

The decision to allow Manchester City's stoppage-time winner against Wolves on 20 October has been backed by an independent panel.

John Stones' header was eventually awarded following a pitchside review by referee Chris Kavanagh after it had initially been disallowed for offside, with Bernardo Silva standing close to Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa.

The Key Match Incident panel, which reviews the big decisions from every Premier League game, unanimously agreed with the VAR intervention, saying Silva was "not clearly in the line of the goalkeeper's vision or impacting his ability to make a save".

During the game, the Premier League Match Centre posted on X:, external "Stones' goal was disallowed on-field due to Bernardo Silva being in an offside position and in the goalkeeper's line of vision. The VAR deemed Bernardo Silva wasn't in the line of vision and had no impact on the goalkeeper and recommended an on-field review. The referee overturned his original decision and a goal was awarded."

That weekend's fixtures - the eighth round of Premier League matches - saw multiple VAR reviews with penalties overturned and yellow cards upgraded to reds.

In October, referees' chief Howard Webb said there had been an 80% reduction in the number of video assistant referee (VAR) errors this season compared to 2023-24.

Bayern Munich attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala, 21, says he is happy at the Bundesliga club, amid links to Manchester City. (Goal), external

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

Rob Butler
BBC Norfolk Canary Call presenter 

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City defender Callum Doyle has played all but around five minutes of Norwich City's Championship season so far, and that tells its own story.

It is fair to say he has been a revelation for the team - beginning the campaign as a central defender but moving to left-back in more recent weeks. The highlight was a brilliant goal against Watford in a 4-1 win at Carrow Road.

He already has more than 90 games under his belt in the second tier following loan spells at Leicester, Coventry and Sunderland and, at the age of 21, he looks very comfortable in the division. Doyle is also a regular for England Under-21s.

The Canaries' new Danish head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup likes his full-backs to cover a lot of ground and join in with central midfield positions when needed. Doyle has been the perfect player for the job.

He is strong on the ball and plays with energy and a clear toughness that goes a long way in the hustle and bustle of the Championship. Sometimes his eagerness to get forward does have the potential to leave defensive areas exposed, but Norwich fans are quick to applaud his gut-busting runs to get back into position.

The Carrow Road faithful are already dreaming of a permanent move for his services but it is clear he is a player who is destined for the Premier League, one way or another.

Image source, Getty Images

Only Manchester City (179) and Tottenham (156) have had more shots than Bournemouth in the Premier League this season (140), with the Cherries’ average of 15.6 shots-per-game their highest in a single top-flight campaign.

But the weekend fixture may be tough for the shot-happy Cherries. Bournemouth have won none of their 20 league games against City (D2 L18). It’s the most one side has faced another without ever winning in English Football League history.

Manchester City and manager Pep Guardiola will know only too well sympathy from elsewhere will be non-existent when he outlines the scale of their current injury problems.

Guardiola's message that "I think we are in trouble" will be brushed aside by those who look on in envy at the size and quality of the squad he has at his disposal.

There is no question, however, that his resources are being put to the test after injuries to Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias and Savinho before and during Wednesday's Carabao Cup defeat at Tottenham.

City are already without Rodri - arguably their most important player - for the season, along with Kevin de Bruyne.

The reality is that if any manager or team can cope with such handicaps, it is Manchester City.

It does add an extra layer of intrigue for Saturday's trip to Bournemouth, who showed how dangerous they can be when they beat Arsenal 2-0 recently.

Guardiola still has plenty of weapons in his armoury and City still lead the Premier League, but it could just be that their current injury difficulties play even more into the narrative that there might be a greater sense of flux surrounding the title race this season than many expected.

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your views on Wednesday's EFL Cup match between Tottenham and Manchester City.

Here are some of your comments:

Tottenham fans

Doug: Great result, I’m chuffed for Werner getting a goal. He had a few other chances and he did better with them so I hope he continues to grow. Hopefully Van de Ven’s injury isn’t a serious one. And when Romero went off we had none of our main centre-backs on and still played well and got the result. Need to continue building as it's a tough game on Sunday at Villa.

Stephen: I thought we played well and had several chances to put the game to bed in the second half. We defended very well and Bentancur and Bissouma were very good together. We must remember this was not Manchester City’s first team but it was ours.

William: Today was like a Spurs win against Manchester City of old - defensively solid and dangerous on the counter attack. I love watching Ange’s fearless style of play, but today showed that sometimes taking a backward step can work and that against teams like City sometimes you have to adapt your style of play based upon the quality of the opposition.

Man City fans

Toqir: They lacked the killer instinct. Pep put on a third XI, there’s no doubt about that. They had a good run around but could have stamped their authority if they’d concluded their chances. It’s a blow to me as a fan. But Pep made his views clear regarding the congestion of matches and fielding an inexperienced team.

John: Despite falling to defeat, it was so encouraging to see so much of the City youth team fit into the Pep way of playing. City's future is looking good, very good.

Jim: I was at the match and worried about the ease Spurs scored the first goal. However we had a good second half and the youngsters did well.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Everton midfielder Leon Osman says Tottenham finished the game off against Manchester City in the opening 30 minutes but Pep Guardiola did not look too disappointed that his side failed to reach the quarter-finals.

"Tottenham's application in the first 30 minutes was where the game was won and lost," said Osman on the BBC Radio 5 Live Football Daily podcast. "City were slow out of the blocks and looked lethargic. I don't think I've seen them give so many passes away at that stage before. They eventually got up to speed for the last hour, and were the team we all know, but Spurs had already given themselves a platform by that point and they inevitably won.

"This game was more important for Tottenham than City and that showed as Guardiola was trying to rest players because they compete in so many competitions each season. But he still doesn't like giving anything up because he likes silverware every season!

"Even when City were chasing the game in the final minutes, Guardiola didn't bring Erling Haaland on and he trusted his young players. I am sure he will be pleased with the level they performed to.

"Spurs just won more battles throughout the game. On another night, Timo Werner could have had three or four goals had he taken his chances."

Listen to the Football Daily podcast on BBC Sounds

Manchester City have rejected approaches from several clubs to take 18-year-old attacking midfielder Claudio Echeverri on loan with the Argentine expected to link up with Pep Guardiola's side from River Plate at the start of 2025. (Fabrizio Romano), external

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

Image source, Getty Images

Man City boss Pep Guardiola, speaking to Sky Sports: "Exceptional. The young players did well.

"An incredible top side, they are so fast and I am really pleased.

"We play so good. If you play a game that quick, they attack quicker, we played really good. Of course, in the second half there was transitions they could have finished the game - I know perfectly how good we played.

"Football sometimes, we are in a difficult position with the amount of players."

On injuries: "It is what it is. It is normal. The limit of the players is there."

"We will see tomorrow [on Savinho's injury].

"Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker, no chance to play the next games."

On not playing Erling Haaland: "The plan was not to play today. We have not had much recovery and it was a waste of energy."

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Spurs' performance, external

What did you make of City's display?, external

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

The Carabao Cup quarter-final line-up will be completed on Wednesday, with the six remaining fourth-round ties being played.

• Brighton v Liverpool (19:30)

• Aston Villa v Crystal Palace

• Man Utd v Leicester

• Newcastle v Chelsea - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Preston v Arsenal

• Tottenham v Man City (20:15) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Kick-off times 19:45 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has delivered some bleak news around playmaker Kevin de Bruyne.

De Bruyne has been out of action since suffering a thigh injury in the Champions League draw with Inter Milan on 18 September.

Guardiola initially thought De Bruyne would be back after the October international break but has now extended that until the middle of November after admitting the recovery has been more complicated than City thought.

Asked when the Belgian star would be back, Guardiola said: "I would like to tell you, I especially would like to know, but I don't know.

"He feels better to train but to go to the level we need for competition he still has pain.

"If he doesn't come back as quick as possible we will struggle. Hopefully that can happen after the international break."

Manchester City remain hopeful that Pep Guardiola will extend his stay as manager, and the club are adamant they had not lined up Sporting manager Ruben Amorim as a potential replacement. (Mail), external

Sporting are willing to sell Viktor Gyokeres for between £50m and £58m next summer, with Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool and all interested in the 26-year-old Sweden striker. (Florian Plettenberg), external

Want more gossip? Read Wednesday's full column

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

It is fair to say Manchester City feel Real Madrid's Ballon d'Or no-show does not reflect well on the Spanish giants.

They did have a legitimate claim on the award. Even City boss Pep Guardiola admitted Vinicius Jr would have been a worthy winner.

However, while he said it did not matter that Real failed to turn up - even though Carlo Ancelotti beat Guardiola to the coach of the year prize and, in Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham, they had the second and third players for the main award - there was a bit of a rebuke in there.

Guardiola reminded everyone that Erling Haaland was overlooked for the 2023 award in favour of Lionel Messi, even though City won the Treble and the Norwegian scored an incredible 52 goals.

"If you are in the first two or three, it's exceptional," said Guardiola. "It means you have done an incredible year and you have to be so satisfied."