In normal circumstances, Pep Guardiola's landmark achievement might have been the focus ahead of Manchester City's clash with Aston Villa.
Yet the build-up to Sunday's fixture at the Etihad Stadium was overshadowed by City having been accused of over 100 breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations.
While City will defend themselves off the pitch, their players stepped up by beating Villa 3-1 to ensure Guardiola's 250th Premier League game in charge was marked in style.
Stats Perform has looked at the numbers from Guardiola's time in England's top tier.
The numbers
1 – Guardiola has the highest win rate of any manager to have coached in 100 or more games in the Premier League (73.6 per cent).
29 – Guardiola is the 29th manager to reach the 250-game milestone in the Premier League's history.
184 – After City's victory over Villa, Guardiola has won 184 of his games in the competition. This is a Premier League career total bettered by only five other managers (Jose Mourinho, Harry Redknapp, David Moyes, Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson). His tally of victories is the most of any manager across their first 250 games in the competition (Jurgen Klopp is second, with 160).
34 – City have lost only 34 league games under Guardiola.
4 – Of those defeats, four have come against Klopp's Liverpool, but it is Tottenham who Guardiola has notoriously struggled against. He has lost six times to Spurs in the top flight, including five of their last seven such meetings.
115 – Renowned for their glorious attacking play, City have nevertheless built their success on a stingy defence under Guardiola, whose team have kept 115 clean sheets.
621 – Guardiola's City have netted 621 goals in the Premier League.
204 – In contrast, they have conceded only 204 times.
The records
Guardiola's largest league win as City boss came against Watford in September 2019 (8-0).
His biggest loss as City manager in the Premier League came in his first season in charge, when his side lost 4-0 to Everton at Goodison Park in January 2017.
City stormed to their first league title under Guardiola in the 2017-18 season, becoming the first team in the competition's history to attain 100 points in a season.
They took 50 of those points on the road in the 2017-18 campaign, a Premier League record, as is their tally of 16 away wins that term. Another record haul is their tally of 106 goals in that season.
Their side of 2017-18 won 32 games, another competition high mark, and incredibly City matched that total in the following season.
City went on a run of 18 successive wins between 26 August and 27 December, 2017. That tally has not been bettered, though it was matched by Liverpool in the 2019-20 season (as was the 32 wins in a season record).
In 2021, Guardiola's City netted 113 times, a Premier League record for goals in a calendar year.
City's streak of 14 victories to end a season (2018-19) is a record, as is their run of 12 consecutive away wins between December 2020 and May 2021.
The Players
Raheem Sterling is the player with the most top-flight goals for City across Guardiola's 250 games in charge, with 85. Sergio Aguero ranks second on 82.
Ederson has made the most appearances (204 – all of them starts) while Kevin De Bruyne (203) is the outfield player to have played the most games.
De Bruyne, as expected, leads the way for assists (87). With a goal haul of 53, the Belgian tops the charts for direct goal involvements (140).
Nashville SC v Atlanta United: Long-time coach Smith departs in shock move
Gary Smith has left Nashville SC, with the team confirming they have parted company with their long-serving head coach.
Nashville beat Toronto FC on Wednesday, moving up to 10th in the Eastern Conference.
Yet on Thursday, the team confirmed they had decided to part ways with Smith, who had been in charge for seven seasons.
Smith won 52 MLS games during his spell in charge, while also leading Nashville to the Leagues Cup final in 2023.
Nashville face Atlanta United on Saturday, with ex-player and now player development coach Rumba Munthali stepping in as interim head coach.
No reason was provided for Smith's departure. He has been joined in leaving the club by assistant coach Steve Guppy.
A Nashville statement read: "Nashville SC extends its gratitude to Smith and Guppy for their dedication and contributions to our team and wishes them and their families all the best in their future endeavours.
"Under Smith's leadership, Nashville SC emerged as a very organised and hard-to-beat team in both leagues.
"In the USL Championship, Smith guided the team to a 32-win record over two seasons, including two playoff appearances and a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference in 2019.
"His transition to MLS with the club was seamless, leading Nashville to four consecutive MLS Cup playoff appearances, a feat only achieved by two other teams in the league's history."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Nashville SC - Hany Mukhtar
Mukhtar has scored five goals in nine career regular-season matches against Atlanta. Only Luciano Acosta (nine goals in 17 games) has scored more times against the Five Stripes.
Atlanta United - Thiago Almada
Almada has scored in all three of his career MLS matches against Nashville. No player has ever scored in four consecutive regular-season meetings versus Nashville, though Daryl Dike did score in four straight for Orlando City, including playoff games.
MATCH PREDICTION: NASHVILLE WIN
Despite Smith's departure, Opta's model still predicts a positive outcome for Nashville.
Atlanta are winless in 11 straight MLS away matches (D5 L6 incl. playoffs) dating back to last September. It is the longest active road winless run in MLS.
Nashville have won two straight home matches, their first regular-season home winning streak since a run of six straight last April-July. They managed just two wins in 12 home league games between the two streaks (D6 L4).
Atlanta's 4-0 home win over Nashville last August ended a seven-match winless run for them in the series (D3 L4). Atlanta won their first visit to Nashville, 2-1, in the latter's inaugural match in March 2020, but the Five Stripes are winless in five visits in all competitions since (D2 L3).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Nashville SC - 46.2%
Atlanta United - 25.5%
Draw - 28.3%
FC Cincinnati v St. Louis City: Noonan looking for improved performance despite Atlanta win
Despite watching his side beat Atlanta United in midweek, FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan still wants more from his side when they host St. Louis City this weekend.
Kevin Kelsy's seventh-minute strike was enough to earn Cincinnati a 1-0 win over Atlanta to make it five straight MLS victories.
Cincinnati currently sit second in the Eastern Conference, but Noonan is still demanding more from his side than Wednesday's performance.
"I wouldn't say 'negatives' but [there are] things we could have done better, and here we are with the guys keeping a clean sheet and winning the game," Noonan told reporters.
"They deserve credit and to be proud of the fact that they're still walking off the field with a win tonight."
St. Louis saw a five-game unbeaten streak end as they lost 2-0 to Los Angeles FC in midweek.
The defeat leaves St. Louis ninth in the Western Conference, though they are just three points off sixth-placed Austin FC.
Bradley Carnell is looking to get players back fit and raring to go for the visit to Cincinnati at the weekend, saying: "It's about how we manage over the next couple of days to get a solid, fit line-up for Cincinnati.
"We don't have much time to sit and dwell, and we have to be brave and positive to head to Cincinnati."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
FC Cincinnati – Kevin Kelsy
In his first MLS start, Kelsy scored Cincinnati's lone goal on Wednesday. The 19-year-old has scored in consecutive games, making him the first teenager to score multiple MLS goals for Cincinnati, and if he gets the nod from the off again here, he will once more hope to mark it with a goal.
St. Louis City – Joao Klauss
Having netted four in his previous four games, Klauss drew a blank against LAFC as St. Louis slumped to defeat. He is clearly a key man in St. Louis' attack, and he will hope to get back among the goals this weekend, and with a win too.
MATCH PREDICTION – CINCINNATI WIN
St. Louis beat Cincinnati 5-1 in the lone previous meeting between the sides last April. The four-goal margin is Cincinnati’s largest defeat since the start of last season and equals St. Louis' largest ever margin of victory.
But St. Louis are winless in eight straight away matches in all competitions (four draws, four defeats). St. Louis have won three of their last 23 on the road after winning the first three away matches in club history.
Cincinnati have won five straight regular season matches with all five wins coming by one-goal margins, the first team to do so since the Red Bulls in 2012, and though it may be a tight game again this weekend, the hosts will fancy their chances of coming out on the right side of the result and collecting another three points.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Cincinnati: 44.3%
St. Louis: 28.2%
Draw: 27.5%
Klopp jokes he 'doesn't like Maddison' after failing to block Kompany winner
Jurgen Klopp has joked he doesn't like James Maddison after the midfielder's failure to block Vincent Kompany's long-range winner in the 2018-19 season.
With the title race that campaign nearing its conclusion, Manchester City and Liverpool were going toe-to-toe at the Premier League summit.
City faced Leicester City in their penultimate game, and with the contest 0-0 with 20 minutes left, the ball sat up for Kompany to shoot from range with Maddison in the vicinity.
Maddison failed to block the effort, and Kompany's drive flew into the top corner before City ultimately went on to claim the title.
Klopp has joked that he now feels differently about Maddison following that incident, telling The Redmen TV: "The moment when Vinny Kompany fires the ball, I'm really happy I didn't get a stroke because that's how it must feel.
"I was watching thinking, 'Maddison, block him, close him down!'
"And since then, I don't like Maddison! I was also angry with Brendan [Rodgers, then Leicester manager] that day, because he should have taken him off, he was tired.
"It's a personal thing. Of course, I have no problem."
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