Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez playing together could help Manchester City to break down teams who sit back against them, according to Pep Guardiola.
City lost ground in the title race on Saturday after drawing 1-1 at home to struggling Everton, with leaders Arsenal then extending their advantage at the Premier League summit to seven points with a 4-2 victory at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Haaland had given City the lead against the Toffees, but Demarai Gray scored a superb strike to peg the champions back and hold them to just a point, putting another dent in their title hopes after losing at home to Brentford in the final game before the World Cup break.
In his attempts to win the game, Guardiola brought on World Cup winner Alvarez up top with Haaland in the 87th minute, and though it did not reward him with three points on this occasion, he says he may have to start the pair if they are to improve their results at home.
"You have two strikers who are going to score goals," City boss Guardiola said after the game.
"To create the chances you have to make the process and for the process sometimes you need other types of players to create these chances.
"But of course they can play together - especially in defence against five at the back they can play together.
"In the last minutes when it is 1-1, we needed people in a central role, in and around the box, and that's why he [Alvarez] played."
Phil Foden has come off the bench in all three of City's games since returning from the World Cup, with England team-mate Jack Grealish preferred to start over him in the last two league matches.
Asked whether Foden needs to adapt to be included in his starting line-up, Guardiola replied: "No, Phil can play in a thousand, million positions.
"When I am in the pitch and in the training sessions, I see something with my intuition and I decided to play with Jack for these games because Jack give us extra, extra, extra passes.
"When it is more vertical, Phil is better, so both can combine, both can play together but this time I decided on this line-up."
Chelsea quartet left at home as Bompastor rotates squad for Celtic clash
Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has said that they will be without four key players ahead of their Champions League game away to Celtic on Wednesday.
Bompastor confirmed that Millie Bright, Mayra Ramirez, Sjoeke Nusken and Kadeisha Buchanan have not travelled to Scotland for their encounter at Celtic Park.
The Blues know a victory will seal their progression to the knockout stages, though have decided to rest a few of their key players during a hectic fixture schedule.
Their trip to Scotland will be the second of three matches inside seven days in all competitions for Bompastor's side and, as a result, she has decided to rotate her squad.
"The squad is in a good place and we have a good dynamic and we are full of confidence," she told a press conference
"We have been playing a lot of games and this week we play three games so it’s important to manage players as individuals.
“We have some players who didn’t travel for this game. Kadeisha Buchanan, Millie Bright, Sjoeke Nusken and Mayra Ramirez didn’t travel."
Chelsea come into the game with a 100% record in all competitions under Bompastor, including two wins from two against Real Madrid and Twente in the Champions League.
And they will be confident of maintaining their perfect run, having lost just one of their previous 20 group stage matches in the competition (W14 D5) and are unbeaten across their last 14 (W11 D3).
“As you know, Chelsea have a good squad with quality and a good team will start the game and be competitive because we want to finish first in this group," she said.
Their early-season form has them second in the Women's Super League and top of their Champions League group, at least three points ahead of any other team.
Despite resting players, Bompastor reassured people that it was Chelsea's ambition to fight on all fronts.
“The Champions League is important and we have ambition and we want to make sure we finish first in the group," she said.
“We have ambitions and if we want to go for all the competitions then you need to beat every team.
“It will start again in March and that’s when the really important games start, but right now we are focused on the group stage.”
'Please, doubt us' – Dias dares Man City's critics
Ruben Dias has dared Manchester City's critics to "doubt us" after the Premier League champions' four-game losing streak.
Pep Guardiola lost four straight matches in all competitions for the first time in his managerial career as City capitulated in a 2-1 loss to Brighton on Saturday.
That loss came on the back of a 4-1 defeat to Sporting CP – coached by new Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim – in the Champions League, as well as a reverse to Bournemouth in the Premier League and an EFL Cup exit at the hands of Tottenham.
City are five points behind league leaders Liverpool, but Dias shrugged off the doubters.
"I would say, please doubt us, doubt us, feel welcome to do so," the centre-back told reporters.
"When we did the treble, we even called it the dark January. We had a tough period. But it is what it is.
"What matters is how you bounce back from these moments. That's why our team has won so much because in moments of difficulty, the characters come up and we stay together.
"We don't find people to kill, we find people to bring into the cause and fight together.
"That's what we need to do once again. Until it's done, it's not done."
City's losing run combined with Liverpool's excellent form has seen a swing in the Opta supercomputer's predictions.
The model now has Liverpool as the favourites, with a 60.3% chance of winning the title.
England lose eight big names in Carsley's final squad
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer and Declan Rice headlined England's latest withdrawals from Lee Carsley's final squad for their upcoming Nations League fixtures.
The Three Lions take on Greece this Thursday before returning to Wembley three days later to face the Republic of Ireland, but will be without eight key players for those games.
Alexander-Arnold was replaced by Conor Bradley in the 25th minute of Liverpool's 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday, though Arne Slot is hopeful the injury is not a serious one.
And his absence will be felt by the Three Lions. Only Mohamed Salah (21) has created more chances for the Reds in the Premier League this term than Alexander-Arnold (20).
Palmer, who missed training following a challenge from Lisandro Martinez during Chelsea’s draw with Manchester United before playing against Arsenal, is another to drop out.
This season, Palmer's 12 goal involvements (seven goals, five assists) in the Premier League is only bettered by Liverpool's Salah (14).
Arsenal duo Bukayo Saka and Rice also miss out, with the latter dealing with a foot injury that forced him to miss the Gunners' Champions League defeat to Inter last week.
Rice was substituted in the 71st minute of their 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday, with Saka limping off 10 minutes from time at Stamford Bridge.
Phil Foden and Jack Grealish are also ruled out, with Pep Guardiola expressing his frustration about the latter's inclusion by Carsley after ruling him out of their trip to Brighton.
Southampton's Aaron Ramsdale and Chelsea's Levi Colwill have also withdrawn from the initial 26-man squad.
It has, however, opened the door for Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers to receive his first senior call after impressing under Unai Emery this season.
Rogers has three goals and three assists in 15 appearances in all competitions for the Villans this term, a total only bettered by Jhon Duran and Ollie Watkins (both eight).
Jarrod Bowen and Jarrad Branthwaite along with the uncapped Tino Livramento and James Trafford have also been added to Carsley's ranks.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
