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• Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City

  Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.

  The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.

  The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.

  There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.

  Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.

  “Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.  

  “That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.

  “Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.  

  “I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.  

  “Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”

   

  Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.

  That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.

  He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.

• Rodri: Messi is the greatest player of all time, without any doubt

  Manchester City and Spain star Rodri has suggested that Lionel Messi pipped Cristiano Ronaldo as the greatest footballer of all time.

  The 28-year-old was recently awarded the 2024 Ballon d'Or as recognition for a period in which he won the Champions League in 2023 and Euro 2024 with Spain the next year.

  Ex-Barcelona man Messi has won three of the last four Ballon d'Ors prior to Rodri, with the midfielder claiming that the latter is the greatest "without any doubt" during an interview on Spanish TV.

  "Lionel Messi is the greatest player of all time, without any doubt. Cristiano has managed to match Messi without innate talent. But those of us who have played against them can see the difference," said Rodri, speaking to El Hormiguero.

  "We didn’t want Cristiano to step into the box because he was lethal there. But with Messi, the danger was everywhere on the pitch."

  Ronaldo has scored a total of 928 goals in his career for club and country, winning 34 major trophies including five Champions League titles. He has also won the Ballon d'Or on five occasions.

  Messi, meanwhile, has scored 877 goals, won the Champions League on four occasions and the Ballon d'Or five times, most recently in 2023.

  Messi is now at Inter Miami, while Rodri is recovering from an ACL injury at Manchester City, although the two faced each other in LaLiga during the midfielder's spells at Villarreal and Atletico Madrid before his Premier League move.

  "When Messi got the ball, you’d think: 'Oh, danger'," he added. "When I first started playing against him, I tried to take the ball from him, and he dodged you as if you were a bull in the ring. The feeling I had was that something bad was about to happen."

• Silva expects Iwobi to hit new heights for in-form Fulham

  Fulham boss Marco Silva is counting on Alex Iwobi to provide his best-ever Premier League season as the Nigerian looks to continue his strong start to 2024-25 versus Wolves.

  Fulham signed off for the November international break with back-to-back wins over Brentford (2-1) and Crystal Palace (2-0) and currently sit seventh in the table.

  They are among a host of teams within distance of the Champions League spots, with Iwobi's performances a major factor in their strong start.

  He has two goals and two assists so far this term, and Silva believes he is in the form of his life.

  "For me, last season was the best season from him in the Premier League, in my opinion, and I'm sure that he's going to be better this season," Silva told Fulham's website.

  "It's the same thing that I've been saying to him.

  "I know him very well, I brought him to Everton, and when we got the chance to have him with us here at Fulham, it was a moment for us to go to sign him.

  "First, he is a really versatile player that can play in many, many positions, he can do many roles. I know where he's capable, where he feels that he can perform better.

  "He likes to be around in the middle of the pitch. But now he's playing more on the right, where he's capable, like he showed against Crystal Palace."

   

  Wolves, meanwhile, picked up their first victory of the season at the 11th attempt prior to the international break, beating Southampton 2-0 at Molineux.

  That result steadied the ship after coach Gary O'Neil had seen his position come under threat, and captain Mario Lemina thinks it will also provide a much-needed confidence boost.

   "It was really hard. We just believed since day one," Lemina told the club's media channels.

  "The whole city has been missing that sensation. To finish with this win, it's going to be good for our mental health. 

  "To be honest, we were sad for the fans, sad for the club, but now we can build from that and try to get back. We're really in a positive mentality."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Fulham – Alex Iwobi

  Only Dejan Kulusevski (25), Cole Palmer (25), and Bernardo Silva (23) have created more chances from open play in the Premier League this season than Iwobi (22).

  His expected assists total from open play of 2.9 xA is the second-highest in the competition, behind James Maddison (3.2), and he has scored more than twice as many Premier League goals against Wolves (five) than he has versus any other opponent.

  Wolves – Matheus Cunha

  Since the start of last season, only three players have been involved in a higher proportion of their side's goals in the Premier League than Wolves' Cunha (39%; 17 goals, nine assists).

  Furthermore, the Brazilian has netted in each of his last three away league games and has five goal involvements in his last five outings overall (three goals, two assists).

  MATCH PREDICTION – FULHAM WIN

  Fulham have won just one of their last eight Premier League games against Wolves (three draws, four losses), though it was in this exact fixture last season (3-2).

  However, Silva's men enter this match in excellent form, and they could win three successive Premier League games for the first time since a run of four victories in January 2023, which is the only time they have accomplished the feat since returning to the top flight in 2022.

  Wolves, meanwhile, have not won successive Premier League games since February last season and are winless in their last 11 away league matches, drawing four and losing seven while conceding 28 goals in that time.

  They have also lost seven of their last 10 Premier League matches in London including both such games this season versus Arsenal and Brentford (three wins).

  As well as Iwobi, Wolves will have to be particularly wary of their former striker Raul Jimenez. All six of his Premier League goal involvements this season (four goals, two assists) have put Fulham ahead, the best 100% rate managed in the competition so far this term.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Fulham – 54.8%

  Wolves – 22.2%

  Draw – 23%