Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola will speak to the media ahead of Wednesday's trip to Burnley
Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola will speak to the media ahead of Wednesday's trip to Burnley
Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola will address the media this afternoon ahead of Wednesday night's trip to Burnley in the Premier League.
City will move top of the table should they beat Scott Parker's relegation-threatened side. The Blues' 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Sunday moved them to within three points of the summit.
Guardiola's side are building momentum but supporters will be fearful of Rodri's fitness. The midfielder was replaced late on against Burnley and Guardiola should know the extent of his injury concern today.
Elsewhere, John Stones returned to the matchday squad this weekend but Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol were absent. Undoubtedly, the title race will dominate a chunk of today's press conference as well as previewing tomorrow's game at Burnley.
Guardiola confirmed that Rodri will not be available to face Burnley on Wednesday. The midfielder has started each of City's last 11 league games but came off with a groin injury in the closing minutes of the 2-1 win over Arsenal. Medical checks have since confirmed that while Rodri has not suffered a serious injury it is enough to rule him out of the next game and he could also miss the FA Cup semi-final with Southampton. As expected, Ruben Dias is also still sidelined alongside Josko Gvardiol.
"I think he will not be ready for tomorrow and we will see for the next games," Guardiola said of Rodri. "Maybe [he will be back for] the semi-final with Southampton or in 12 or 13 days against Everton."
Ruben Dias speaking to Rodri during a Manchester City match
(Image: Simon Stacpoole/Offside, Offside via Getty Images)
Ahhh. From my info he has been unbelievable the reason he went there, at that young age, was because he did not have much options to play here. He has grown up as a player. He has faced the best strikers in Spain and it is not easy to deal with. He grew a lot so he is happy. The decisions will be made at the end of the season.
Absolutely our body language is in the right place since many months. So every mistake, not one player feels it is my mistake, we all feel it. It is one mistake and we move on. We have a young squad. I know what I am talking about because every time, these types of games when we win or lose we talk about our mentality, I know exactly what our mentality would be. If they scored in the last minutes I know what our mentality would be. I know perfectly what would be our mentality. They have composure. People talk about they hitting the post twice, we hit the post twice too. The chances they had, we had too. The game was so tight and the margins define many things.
The last games have been very important for their experience but they both have a huge, special personality. The man marking and they made lateral drives left and right. Their composure with and without the ball, their physicality. They are not young guys anymore, they have experience, they have played a lot of these types of matches. They know how they must play and they were exceptional, not just in those games but the last games. We have been 16/17 months without Rodri. The success of the team belongs to the players you have and if they are in the right spot, we can compete. That's why I am so pleased with the players we have played without Rodri. It is not always perfect. It is not a big miss but of course having him with Bernie or Kova, who is an incredible player who has been out for one year. So when that happens, everything is more and more difficult to be more consistent and for the patterns to be better. Saying that Nico has helped us a lot when Rodri has been absent.
Both teams know what has happened in the past with Arsenal and Liverpool we both know we can't drop points. It will be difficult to recover. Our calendar is so demanding, our opponents are really tough.We have to adjust a few things against Arsenal but we go to win the game [at Burnley]. And then we go to win the game because that is what we need to do.
We talked immediately in the dressing room after the game about that focus. Arsenal are top of the league, right now they will be champions. The recovery has been a lot less than the last two weeks. It is just today, I have to see how players recover, not just the demanding game that we had emotionally and physically. We have six games left, I don't know what will happen.
That means how good they have been, consistent they have been. We need to try and have the same points as them. It's a game in quick succession after Sunday. It's a different challenge facing Burnley than it is facing Arsenal.
A good while after Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City players had completed their lap of appreciation and around the Etihad and gone back to the dressing room, two blocks of fans remained. Either side of the empty section that had housed the Arsenal supporters, Blues sang the new song featuring Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo back at each other as they eked out more seconds on what had been a hell of an afternoon. City fans arrived giddy for the prospect of laying another serious blow on Arsenal and when they finally did leave there was joy that their victory could even lead to more silverware in the coming weeks. Winning the title looked like a lost dream as recently as a month ago.
That perhaps explained the wild scenes from the players as well, in addition to recognising the battle that they had been through against an Arsenal side that had produced their best performance at the Etihad under Mikel Arteta and a marked improvement on the last few months. Gianluigi Donnarumma, whose error gifted the Gunners an equaliser, jumped into the crowd at full-time after redeeming himself with a strong second half.
The Manchester City team bus arrives at the Etihad ahead of the Premier League game against Arsenal
Still relishing that afternoon at the Etihad on Sunday?
Then why not listen to our latest Talking City podcast episode with Simon Bajkowski and Alex James.
We discuss the game itself, the fallout, the consequences and what comes next.
You can get that from wherever you normally get your podcasts or you can watch it right here.
You could argue every week is a massive week now but if City can get the job done at Burnley on Wednesday night, the pressure heads back to Arsenal and the Gunners play twice before City are in Premier League action again.
That could work both ways because if Mikel Arteta's side see off Newcastle and Fulham at the Emirates then they'll be six points clear of City ahead of the Blues game at Everton on Bank Holiday Monday.
But any dropped points by Arsenal leaves them open to a City charge. There is no margin for error and it promises to be a fascinating few weeks.
You never know quite how Guardiola will be when he addresses the media before a game. You would imagine the City boss will be in good spirits after their biggest victory of the season so far. However, Guardiola will also be keen not to appear over confident and allow complacency to hinder the Blues' performance. His tone will therefore be crucial.
Pep Guardiola speaks to the media
Pep Guardiola speaks to the media(Image: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
After downing Arsenal, what is stopping Manchester City from racing away and claiming a seventh Premier League title in nine years? Six teams can directly stop them, and Mikel Arteta's side will be doing everything they can to pile the pressure on as they look to bounce back from successive defeats.
City's run-in looks like it is more difficult than Arsenal's on paper, with the quality of opposition slightly higher. That is in part because of the congested race for European qualification this season with a more competitive Premier League meaning that upcoming games with Everton away and Brentford at home are matches where City's opponents are firmly in the hunt for European football next season.
Erling Haaland of Manchester City celebrates the win during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal at Etihad Stadium in Manchester, United Kingdom, on April 19, 2026.
(Image: NurPhoto, NurPhoto via Getty Images)
As Anthony Taylor blew his full time whistle with the sun fading behind the Colin Bell Stand, Arsenal's Premier League title race looked to be crumbling. All the talk before kick off was how Manchester City beating the Gunners for a second time this season was inevitable. That weight of expectation is a difficult burden to carry. While Mikel Arteta's side have floundered when given the chance to run away with the title, City have taken it in their stride. Arsenal played better on Sunday than they did in defeat at Wembley, but that was still not good enough.
Manchester City players and fans celebrate beating Arsenal 2-1 in a season-defining clash in the Premier League
Manchester City players and fans celebrate beating Arsenal 2-1 in a season-defining clash in the Premier League(Image: Alex Livesey - Danehouse/Getty Images)
City are heading to Hong Kong this summer as part of their pre-season tour for the 2026/27 season. The Blues have agreed to play Inter Milan at the Kai Tak Stadium on August 1 in what will be their first fixture of an Asian trip. The Blues are expected to announce more games in at least one other country in the coming weeks with the first game set for just under two weeks after the World Cup final takes place in New Jersey. The majority of City's squad will be involved in the international tournament, although the timing of City's tour means that most players could join up for some part of it if required.
HONG KONG, CHINA - APRIL 19: General view the stadium as fireworks are set off after women's team New Zealand and men's team South Africa win the cup final during day three of the Hong Kong Sevens at Kai Tak Stadium on April 19, 2026 in Hong Kong, China. (Photo by Sean Chiu/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
HONG KONG, CHINA - APRIL 19: General view the stadium as fireworks are set off after women's team New Zealand and men's team South Africa win the cup final during day three of the Hong Kong Sevens at Kai Tak Stadium on April 19, 2026 in Hong Kong, China. (Photo by Sean Chiu/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Here is what we expect to be discussed in the press conference this afternoon:
Rodri of Manchester City celebrates with the EFL Trophy after winning the Carabao Cup Final match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium
Rodri celebrates Manchester City's Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal
We are just one hour away from the start of Guardiola's press conference...
Pep Guardiola, manager of Man City
Pep Guardiola, manager of Man City(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
Guardiola will wait to find out the extent of a groin injury for Rodri after the midfielder had to be substituted towards the end of their 2-1 win. The Spaniard, who suffered a serious injury in this fixture last season, was excellent for most of the match before pulling up at the end and immediately asking to be taken off.
That didn't stop Rodri from running back out to the edge of the dugout to give his teammates extra instructions as he looked to help them see out seven minutes of injury time against the league leaders, but it may rule him out of some upcoming matches. City are in action on Wednesday at Turf Moor as their schedule gets busy again after a few weeks with just one match in them.
Rodri down injured
Rodri picked up an injury against Arsenal(Image: Darren Staples / AFP via Getty Images)
City's head coach is expected to sit down in front of the media at 12.30pm this afternoon. Once he arrives, we will bring you everything he has to say.
Pep Guardiola in a press conference
(Image: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Good morning and welcome to the Guardiola press conference blog. City make the short trip to Burnley tomorrow night as they continue their race for the Premier League. The Blues will be in a buoyant mood after defeating Arsenal for a second time in a month to move within three points of the leaders.
While Guardiola will undoubtedly be pleased with Sunday's result, he will be keen to not let complacency creep into City. After the win, Guardiola was keen to reiterate they were still behind Arsenal in the title race and the job was not done yet. It will be interesting to see if he continues with this approach later today.
Stay tuned for updates...