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• Mills: Man City will benefit sooner from resolving Guardiola contract

  Danny Mills believes Manchester City will benefit from resolving Pep Guardiola's uncertain future at the club sooner rather than later.

  Guardiola is in the final year of his contract with City and had dropped hints towards the end of last season that this could be his last on the blue side of Manchester.

  However, recent reports suggest he could be signing a one-year extension to keep him at the Etihad for a 10th year.

  The Spaniard joined the club in 2016 and has won 18 trophies with the club, including six Premier Leagues, winning the last four in a row, a Champions League, two FA Cups, four EFL Cups, a UEFA Super Cup, and a Club World Cup.

  Mills, who played for City between 2006 and 2009, says it will be better for everyone at the club when a decision over his future has been made.

  "It's very, very difficult to know what Pep is going to do. He's very much a man inside his own head," Mills told Stats Perform.

  "I don't think he gives too much away about his thought process. We know he's incredibly intense. His dedication is unrivalled at times.

  "He's constantly thinking about football, thinking about Manchester City. That's what he does, and he's incredibly good at it. Only he will know what the next stage of the process is."

  "We saw before at Barcelona that he needed a break after three or four seasons because he was burned out. He needed a break after three seasons at Bayern. He's been at Manchester City longer than at any other club.

  "He's been very, very successful in that time, remodelled the team several times, changed the style of play, dealt with players coming in and leaving, and handled all types of pressure. He's won everything there is to win in that time.

  "I think he's earned the right to decide what he wants to do. If he stays, recruitment might look a little different compared to if he decides to leave. A new manager might want a slightly different style of player.

  "Look at what Liverpool did with Arne Slot. The players Klopp wanted will be similar, but a new manager always wants to put their own slant on things.

  "The conversations now about recruitment for January or next summer will be slightly different if Pep is involved compared to if a new manager is coming in. Some players might look at Pep and think, 'I want to play under him because we know each other, and he knows how I play'.

  "A new manager with a different style might not give those players the same security. So, they'll start wondering, 'If Pep goes, where does my future lie at the club?' It just creates a bit of uncertainty. The sooner that's resolved, the better for Manchester City."

  Guardiola has won 353 of his 490 games in charge of City in all competitions (D70 L63), boasting a 72.04% win rate. In that time, they have scored 1,200 goals.

  The 53-year-old has seen a number of records broken while at the helm, including the record points total in a Premier League season when they won the title with 100 points in 2017-18.

  Having overseen so much success in his first eight seasons, Mills admitted it would be hard to find someone to fill the gap he will leave behind.

  "I think it's really difficult to find someone to replace Pep. It's a bit like replacing Alex Ferguson. It's very, very difficult," he added. "Or replacing Arsene Wenger.

  "Okay, Wenger maybe stayed a little too long, but when he was in his prime period, there wasn't anyone who could replace him.

  "Pep reinvented football in the Premier League, changed the way Manchester City play, and influenced how a lot of teams play."

  "Who do you bring in to take that to the next level? There will be young coaches who get an opportunity. Obviously, Arteta is a big rival at the moment, but he knows the football club, so his name will be in the conversation.

  "Someone like Ruben Amorim might have been mentioned, but he's now crossed to the red side of Manchester, so that rules him out.

  "Manchester City used to have the people in place to ensure the succession plan was lined up. Some of those people are now moving on, which creates some uncertainty. City's planning has always been exceptional from top to bottom, from the sporting director to academy coaches, but that's been disrupted recently.

  "You also throw in the 115 charges against the club. Who knows what's going to happen with that? I think a lot of the charges are spurious. Look at Forest and Everton – they got penalised for two charges, and City have 115. Some will be trivial, like not dating a piece of paper properly or signing in the wrong place.

  "Still, we have to wait for the outcome of that. It doesn't affect the players now, but it could impact the team and the club going forward."

  Even if Guardiola stays, there will come a time when he no longer sits in the City dugout, but Mills believes he will have a lasting legacy due to his influence over the English top-flight.

  "I think Pep's legacy is incredible. What's he won at the moment? Four Premier Leagues in a row, six out of seven, which is phenomenal. Pep has only ever finished outside the top two once," Mills said.

  "I think that was his first season at Manchester City. He's only finished outside the top two once in his entire career. That's unbelievable. It's a ridiculous record. He's always finished first or second, and that's part of his legacy.

  "The way he changed the style of play is another key part. A lot of people doubted whether it was possible to play that way in the Premier League, playing out from the back.

  "Look at what the goalkeeper position has become. Look at teams taking goal kicks and playing one-twos in their own six-yard box. That's all down to Pep. That's another part of his legacy.

  "So, I think there are two parts to it. His winning legacy is phenomenal, and his success rate is unrivalled at the moment. He has to be up there with the best of all time. But also, the style of play and the way he moulded what many thought was impossible and now everybody has copied it.

  "One of the biggest forms of admiration is imitation, and everybody has tried to copy Manchester City. They haven't quite managed it, certainly, not in terms of quality, but in an ideal world, everyone would want to play winning football in that style."

• Brazil 1-1 Uruguay: Valverde and Gerson hit spuerb goals in drab spectacle

  Brazil recovered from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw at home to a stubborn Uruguay side in Tuesday's CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier.

  The hosts were booed by some quarters of their own support in Salvador following the result, which leaves them fifth in the table and five points inside the automatic qualification places.

  It was a match of few chances punctuated by two moments of world-class quality, with Uruguay striking first.

  Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde opened the scoring 10 minutes into the first half, curling into the bottom corner from the edge of the area to put Uruguay a goal up.

  But seven minutes later, Gerson scored his first goal for his country to level things up, a brilliant volley from outside the box.

  The draw has Uruguay in second place, two points above Brazil, who could have won it if not for Sergio Rochet's fine save to deny Gabriel Martinelli, and five behind leaders Argentina with six matches remaining.

  Data debrief: Brazil struggle to break down Bielsa's Uruguay

  Despite Raphinha, Vinicius Junior and Gabriel Martinelli all featuring in this game, Brazil could not find the quality to regularly trouble their visitors.

  The home side managed just three shots on target during the match – one more than Uruguay.

  While they won the xG battle 1.09 - 0.47, it will be a disappointment that they had 18 attempts in total and could only divert so few goalwards.

• Man City squad still stronger than Liverpool's even with injuries – Mills

  Manchester City still have a stronger squad than Premier League title rivals Liverpool even with their numerous injury lay-offs, according to Danny Mills.

  Reigning champions City have lost their past four games in all competitions – the first time that has happened in Guardiola's illustrious managerial career – and trail league leaders Liverpool by five points.

  Recently crowned Ballon d'Or winner Rodri heads City's list of absentees, which also includes Oscar Bobb, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku and Nathan Ake.

  While former City full-back Mills believes Pep Guardiola still has the best selection of players to choose from in the division, he has questioned whether the club could be doing more to prevent the injuries.

  "I think you can look at the injuries and say City still have the strongest squad in the world, without a shadow of a doubt," Mills told Stats Perform. "There are two internationals for every single position on the pitch. 

  "There's a part of me that then thinks, if you have that many injuries, you have to look at why you've got that many injuries. Are they all freak accidents?

  "Are they all impact injuries where you had no choice in the matter? Are they muscle injuries where maybe you have to look at training? So there are lots of factors to look at.

  "Is training too difficult? Are the players playing too many games? Is there not enough rotation within the squad? What does recovery look like? 

  "You can't just say, 'Oh, we're unlucky, we've got injuries'. Generally, there are reasons why you get injured. You always get two or three freak injuries that there's absolutely nothing you can do about. But you also have to look within and manage those situations."

  City have successfully navigated games without the likes of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne in the past, both of whom are now back fit, but coping without holding midfielder Rodri is proving a more difficult task.

  Guardiola's side have won 28 of their 36 games with Rodri in the side since the start of last season, losing none of those, while they have lost five of their 13 matches without the Spain international.

  That win percentage drop-off from 77.8% with Rodri in the team to 53.8% without him also paints a clear picture, but Mills insists City can find a solution as they often have in the past.

  "Every team has injuries, every single club that's ever won anything," he said. "Manchester City have done this before. They won the league without Sergio Aguero, playing a false nine at times. 

  "They went through spells without Vincent Kompany, without a centre-half. They found a way, and that's what the very, very best teams do. They find a way when maybe they haven't got their preferred 11.

  "It's never easy to lose one of your main players, even if you have pretty adequate replacements. Rodri makes Manchester City tick. We've seen it before with Fernandinho in that role. He was absolutely superb. 

  "But you have to find a way around that. You still have Kevin De Bruyne. You still have Mateo Kovacic in there. You've still got Phil Foden that can drop into those spaces, Bernardo Silva. We've seen Ilkay Gundogan has been in there as well." 

  Losing four games in a row is also a rarity for City, having last done so in August 2006 when Stuart Pearce was manager of the club.

  The most recent of those defeats, a 2-1 reverse at Brighton and Hove Albion, saw the Citizens lose a league game they led at half-time for the first time since May 2021 – also away at Brighton.

  Liverpool have taken full advantage of City's blip as they have collected 28 points from the first 33 on offer – only in 2019-20 (31) have they accrued more at this stage. 

  However, Mills insists Guardiola's side are still more than capable of overhauling Liverpool, who they face at Anfield on 1 December.

  "I don't think the title race is over by any stretch of the imagination. I know Liverpool are top at the moment, but City have been there, seen it, done it several times, with a manager who's done it as well. 

  "I know the Liverpool players have done it, but the manager hasn't been in this situation. Liverpool will go through a tricky spell. How they deal with that is yet unknown."

  Mills also pointed to the uncertainty surrounding the future of Guardiola as another reason behind City's drop-off.

  "Pep's future is uncertain, and I don't think that helps," Mills said. "We saw it with Alex Ferguson [at Manchester United] the first time around, when he said he was going to retire at the end of the season, and United dropped off. 

  "We saw it last season with Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool were top by about five points clear. I know City had a game in hand at that stage, but they ended up nine points behind Manchester City. It clearly has an effect.

  "There will be the argument that Alex Ferguson won the title in his last season, but maybe after such a long time, that was just one last hurrah, and maybe that was more about the players."