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• Guardiola says Man City must prove themselves all over again in title race

  Pep Guardiola says Manchester City's players cannot dine out on their past achievements and must prove themselves all over again in their last four games of the Premier League season, starting against Wolves on Saturday. 

  The title race remains in City's hands despite Arsenal leading the way by a single point, with Guardiola's men possessing a game in hand as they chase a fourth successive crown.

  After welcoming Wolves to the Etihad Stadium, they face back-to-back trips to London to take on Fulham and Tottenham, then host West Ham on the final day.

  Guardiola says City – who should have Ederson, Ruben Dias and Phil Foden back on Saturday – cannot assume this title rice will go the same way as others. 

  "We have to prove it tomorrow against Wolves and then in the next games," Guardiola said.

  "We know we have to win and get all 12 points, otherwise it will be difficult because Arsenal are so strong and so consistent. It's difficult to drop points.

  "It depends on us. It's just tomorrow and then three games in one week, no more complicated than that to analyse.

  "I would love to say what we have done in the past is going to happen this season, but nobody knows."

  Wolves, meanwhile, are still eyeing a top-half finish after halting a six-game winless run by beating struggling Luton Town 2-1 at Molineux last week, with goals from Hwang Hee-chan and Toti Gomes.

  A spate of injuries saw their European hopes slip away, but with Pedro Neto back in full training alongside Hwang and Matheus Cunha, they could start with their first-choice front three for the first time since October.

  Boss Gary O'Neil, who will serve a one-match touchline ban on Saturday, said: "To have all the senior players back and the group starting to look stronger again takes me back to October and how we felt at that moment. 

  "So we're looking forward to seeing them all back together."  

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Manchester City – Kevin De Bruyne

  De Bruyne has started six Premier League matches against Wolves, recording five goals and five assists against them, though nine of those involvements came at Molineux (five goals, four assists).

  The Belgian also laid on two assists against Nottingham Forest last week to move to 110 overall in the Premier League – just one behind second-placed Cesc Fabregas in the all-time rankings.

  Wolves – Hwang Hee-chan

  Hwang scored 10 Premier League goals before the turn of the year, then went exactly four months without a goal due to international duty and injuries before netting against Luton last week. 

  Both he and Cunha have 11 Premier League goals this season, and there have only been three previous instances of a player netting more for the club in a single campaign – Steven Fletcher in 2011-12 (12) and Raul Jimenez in both 2018-19 (13) and 2019-20 (17).

  MATCH PREDICTION – MANCHESTER CITY WIN

  Wolves inflicted City's first defeat of the Premier League season back in September, and they now have the chance to complete just their second top-flight double over them since 1960-61, having previously achieved the feat in 2019-20.

  However, City are in ominous form, going unbeaten through their last 19 Premier League games (15 wins, four draws). 

  They have already enjoyed four unbeaten runs of 20 or more matches in the competition – three of them under Guardiola – and could become just the second team to achieve the feat five times (Manchester United have done so seven times).

  All five of Wolves' away Premier League wins this term have either been against either teams starting the day in the relegation zone (two) or versus London clubs (three). 

  They have lost 18 of their 20 Premier League away games against sides starting the day inside the top two, winning the others at Tottenham (in December 2018) and City (October 2019). The champions have no margin for error, and a slip-up from them looks unlikely at this stage.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Manchester City – 71.2%

  Wolves – 9.6%

  Draw – 19.2% 

• Neville: Chelsea sacking Pochettino 'would be madness'

  Gary Neville says it "would be madness" for Chelsea to sack head coach Mauricio Pochettino as he is ideally suited to managing the club.

  Pochettino admitted after Chelsea's 2-0 win over his former side Tottenham on Thursday that he is unsure of his future at Stamford Bridge.

  The Argentinian has been under intense pressure at times this season, most recently on the back of the 5-0 loss to Arsenal last week.

  Chelsea have since responded with a battling 2-2 draw at Aston Villa and the impressive win over Spurs, but doubts remain over Pochettino's future.

  However, Neville insists it would be wrong of Chelsea to part company with the former Paris Saint-Germain boss at the end of the season.

  "There was talk of Pochettino being under pressure a month or so ago," he told Sky Sports. "I think it would be madness to change the coach whose quality of work with these types of player is renowned.

  "Making sure you have stability through another transfer window seems more critical than the idea someone else would come in and do a better job. That doesn't feel right here.

  "He's a proven coach. One of the great coaches in the Premier League in the last five, six, seven years. Pochettino has had some up and down moments this season. But this is a good one."

  Chelsea's victory over Tottenham moved them up to eighth in the Premier League and now within three points of Manchester United in sixth.

  United have also struggled for consistency this season, raising doubts over their own manager Erik ten Hag as the end of the season nears.

  There have also been reports that most of United's players will be up for sale when the transfer window opens, with or without Ten Hag in charge.

  Ten Hag labelled those rumours "untrue", and Neville is adamant there will not be wholesale changes to the squad during the close season.

  "To be fair, you know it's not true," the United legend said. "I mean [Kobbie] Mainoo is not for sale – there's no way that man can be sold so every player can't be for sale, it's impossible. There's no way United could sell their best young players.

  "There's a lack of stability here at Chelsea at the moment, but there's a lack of stability at United. Richard Arnold, John Murtough, Patrick Stewart, Cliff Baty, all the senior management, Darren Fletcher's been moved to a different role within the club, Jason Wilcox has come in.

  "I can understand why there is quite a few players who will be under pressure and potentially would be sold, but I can't believe it's every player or anywhere near that."

• Ten Hag admits Man United missed out on Kane

  Erik ten Hag has confirmed that Manchester United wanted to sign Harry Kane last year but were unable to bring him to the club.

  The England captain joined Bayern Munich and has scored 43 goals so far in his maiden Bundesliga season.

  United instead brought in Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta, though the forward initially struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League, failing to score in his first 14 matches in the competition.

  Overall, the forward has netted 14 times in all competitions, with eight of those coming in the top-flight, but Ten Hag admitted that the club did try to bring in a more high-profile striker.

  Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "This club can only have outstanding players because the expectations are so high. Manchester United is the biggest, or maybe second or third, biggest club in the world, the highest fanbase, so expectations will always be there.

  "Everyone has an opinion about Manchester United and it can only be outstanding players.

  "That's players who have all the skill set, that is the physical and especially the mental skill set they need to perform and contribute because we have to win every game. There's an expectation around every game from us so you can only fulfil that expectation when you have those outstanding players.

  "But in the last decade and in this period, we couldn't always get the players we wanted. But then you have to build, and you have to accept that you get talent in instead of players who already proved it in the past.

  "We have had some choices made with talents like Rasmus Hojlund. I can see a striker who already proved it, who we want to sign, and we couldn't get him. And then we went to Rasmus because he's a talent."

  When asked if the unnamed striker he was referring to was Kane, Ten Hag confirmed that the 30-year-old had been a target for them.

  He continued: "Yes, and you know Harry Kane will get you 30 goals. I think Rasmus will get there, but he needs time. It's not fair to assess him the same as Harry Kane. I would never compare two players because they are very different.

  "But with Hojlund, I think we had the biggest potential in the striker position last summer, and we are very happy with him. But he also needs time to adapt, and we are very pleased he showed his assets in scoring goals.

  "He had a very good period where he scored many games after he showed it, but before and after, he had some physical issues, which is normal for a young player coming up. But it has a negative impact on the team result and that's what you have to accept."