Pep Guardiola said Manchester City did not have to "add many things" to Erling Haaland's game following his arrival from Borussia Dortmund, describing the in-form Norwegian as an "exceptional striker".
Haaland won the Premier League's Player of the Month award for August on Friday, having scored an incredible nine goals during his first calendar month in the competition.
The Norwegian has continued his goalscoring exploits in September, downing Sevilla with a Champions League double before haunting his former club Dortmund with a spectacular acrobatic finish as City beat the German side on Wednesday.
Having scored in City's last Premier League outing at Aston Villa, Haaland could become the first player in the competition's history to net on each of his first four away appearances when he lines up at Wolves on Saturday.
Asked whether 22-year-old Haaland is already the perfect forward, Guardiola said: "He's an exceptional striker, I said many times.
"But the age he is, I think his ambition is he wants to be better, and he will be better. He's a perfect person, a nice guy, this is the most important.
"With the quality he had before he came here, he has just continued to do what he has done. We didn't add many things."
Since losing both of their league meetings with Wolves in the 2019-20 season, City have won each of the teams' last four head-to-head fixtures by an aggregate score of 13-3.
Although Wolves have managed just one win from their first six games of this campaign, Guardiola is impressed by Bruno Lage's attempts to move them towards a more possession-based style of play, and expects a tough challenge.
"It's a completely different team than it was the previous seasons, they played five at the back with [Conor] Coady, now they decide to play with four," Guardiola said.
"I'm really impressed by the way they play, their position in the table is because football is unpredictable and sometimes you don't get what you deserve. They have a lot, a lot, of good things.
"They are one of the toughest opponents we've faced in the last seasons, and tomorrow will not be an exception. We had less recovery, so we have to be mentally prepared. Otherwise, it will be difficult.
"Give credit because what I've seen is completely different to previous seasons, [they would] sit back, just defend, have that transition with Adama [Traore], [Pedro] Neto.
"They still have that, but they added a completely different approach to the past. I respect Wolves a lot for what happened in the past but especially now for what they are trying to do."
City could be the first team to face Diego Costa since his return to the Premier League, with Lage revealing on Friday he hoped to have the former Chelsea striker available.
Asked about the potential presence of the fiery forward, Guardiola said: "Diego Costa has had an incredible career here and in Spain, we know his quality. We'll adapt in case he'll play."
Guardiola refused to be drawn on the debate surrounding a prospective Premier League all-star match, the idea that was suggested by Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly this week.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp declared fans would not want to see that particular addition, but Guardiola would not join him in criticising the idea.
"I don't have an opinion, not at all," Guardiola said. "If they give me the dates they will play, it should be nice. But I don't have an opinion."
New England Revolution v Inter Miami: Porter targets 'mini season' as Messi comes to town
Coach Caleb Porter will treat the New England Revolution's next eight games as a "mini season", as the MLS strugglers prepare to welcome Inter Miami to Gillette Stadium on Saturday.
The Revs sit last in the Eastern Conference standings with just four points from their first eight games of 2024, having lost their last two against New York City (0-2) and Toronto FC (0-1).
Miami, meanwhile, are setting the pace in the East with 18 points from 10 matches, Lionel Messi scoring twice to help Gerardo Martino's team to a 3-1 win over Nashville SC last time out.
Having started to come under pressure just five months into his reign, Porter says the Revs should approach Saturday's match with a clean slate.
"The first eight games weren't good enough in terms of our record, points, goals for, goals against," Porter said. "Bottom line, it wasn't good enough.
"Right now, it's almost a new mini season, these next eight games. What's our record going to be at the end of these eight games?"
Defender Nick Lima, meanwhile, called on the Revs to stay calm as he pointed out how quickly things can change in MLS.
"Things happen fast in this league, man," he said. "We're one or two games away, then you're fighting for a playoff spot already, and who knows what happens from there?"
The Revs could be in luck for Saturday's match, with reports suggesting the artificial turf used in Foxborough could cause Miami to think twice about risking some of their stars.
Jordi Alba is injured and Luis Suarez may be held back, given his history of knee issues, but Miami full-back Julian Gressel expects Messi to feature.
"I will ask when we're preparing for the game, but I'm sure we'll find out who will be available," Gressel said during an appearance on the Player/Manager podcast.
"But he [Suarez] is the only one who has a question mark. Of course, Alba's hurt."
Asked if Martino may decide against risking Messi, he added: "Not from what I've heard."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
New England Revolution – Tomas Chancalay
New England are the lowest scoring team in MLS with just five goals this year, despite attempting 14 shots per match, above the league average of 12.8. The Revs' 4.5 per cent conversion rate is the worst in MLS, with every other team scoring with at least 7 per cent of their shots this year.
Chancalay has been one of the Revs' worst offenders, failing to score a single goal from a team-high tally of 22 shots this year, totalling 2.31 expected goals (xG). He has also missed a team-high four big chances this campaign, as defined by Opta.
Inter Miami – Lionel Messi
Messi has contributed to a goal in nine straight matches in all competitions, scoring nine goals and recording five assists in total, the second time he has enjoyed such a run since joining Miami (also doing so between June 21 and August 26 last year).
The Argentina great has contributed to at least one goal in 19 of his first 23 appearances for Miami in all competitions (20 goals, 10 assists). As ever, if Messi plays, everything will go through him.
MATCH PREDICTION – NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION WIN
With four points from eight matches, New England have made their worst start to a season in club history.
Their 1-0 defeat to Toronto last time out was their sixth of the campaign, one more than they suffered during the entirety of the 2021 season, when they won the Supporters' Shield (22 wins, seven draws, five defeats).
However, they may just feel home advantage gives them a chance of upsetting Messi and company on Saturday. After the visiting team won both meetings between the Revs and Miami in the 2021 season, the home side won all four meetings across the following two campaigns.
New England's three victories over the Herons have come by a combined scoreline of 10-1, while Miami's three wins over the Revs have all come by one-goal margins (6-3 on aggregate).
Miami have only won two of their last eight away league matches (two draws, four defeats), and given the likelihood of at least one of their big names being rested, the Revs may fancy their chances.
Should Messi be rested, Miami have only won one of their four matches without him in MLS this season (one draw, two losses), taking one point per game compared to 2.3 with the Argentine.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
New England Revolution – 54.2%
Inter Miami – 20.4%
Draw – 25.4%
Women's Super League: All to play for with three weeks to go
With just three matchweeks to go in the Women's Super League, it really is all to play for.
Manchester City lead the pack, three points ahead of rivals Chelsea. The Blues have a game in hand so can even things up, but are also behind the Citizens on both goal difference and goals scored.
Bristol City are all but down and will drop to the Championship if they lose at home to Man City and West Ham can get a win at Aston Villa, with both of those matches taking place on Sunday.
Arsenal, meanwhile, travel to Everton for the early kick-off. The Gunners have won each of their last 16 WSL games against Everton, the joint-longest winning run by a team against a single opponent in the competition's history (Manchester City also managed 16 against Everton).
Jonas Eidevall's side will be buoyant after securing Champions League qualification for next season, but they have not given up on chasing down the leaders, as they start the weekend six points off the pace.
Arsenal's form on the road has been the chink in their armour this season. Three of Arsenal’s WSL defeats this term have come away from home (versus Tottenham, West Ham and Chelsea), though the Gunners haven’t lost outside of London in the competition since April 2023, in a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United, going eight unbeaten since then (seven wins, one draw).
The Toffees, however, are also in good spirits after beating Brighton 2-1 last time out. Everton will be looking to win successive WSL games for just the second time this season. Four of their five wins this campaign have now come away from home, however.
One to watch in this encounter will be Beth Mead, who is finding the form that she was displaying before suffering the anterior cruciate ligament injury which kept her out for almost 12 months.
Mead has scored four goals in her last two WSL appearances, netting braces against both Bristol City and Leicester City. This is only the second time the England star has done so in back-to-back outings in the competition, also doing so for Sunderland in July 2015 (versus Chelsea and Bristol City)
Elsewhere, Tottenham host Brighton in a mid-table clash. Tottenham are unbeaten in four previous home games against Brighton in WSL play (three wins, one draw), drawing this fixture 2-2 last season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
They will be looking to build momentum ahead of next month's FA Cup final against Manchester United, but the Seagulls could provide them with a stern test.
Brighton are unbeaten in their last three away WSL games (two wins, one draw), their longest-ever streak on the road in the competition; the Seagulls have scored 10 goals in four away games under Mikey Harris.
Aston Villa welcome West Ham to Villa Park, having struggled to hit the heights they reached last season. Winless in their last three WSL games (one draw, two defeats), Villa are on their longest run without victory since losing their opening five league matches of the season.
The Hammers are teetering on the brink of the relegation zone, but a win against Villa would secure their WSL status for another season.
No side in the WSL this season has scored fewer goals than West Ham (17), whilst they are one of only two sides in the competition – alongside Arsenal - to be underperforming their expected goals (xG) figures, scoring their 17 goals from chances with an xG total of 20.7 (-3.7).
Another reason why they find themselves in such a precarious position is they have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last eight away WSL games (one win, one draw, six defeats), the second-longest ongoing streak in the competition, behind only Bristol City (21).
Despite securing a place in the FA Cup final, Mark Skinner's Manchester United team have found this campaign a challenge after being so prominent in last season's title race.
The Red Devils began the season with doubts over the future of their star shot-stopper Mary Earps, with United rejecting a world-record offer from Arsenal for her services.
Earps is United's leading-appearance maker in the Women's Super League and could play her 100th game in the competition for the Red Devils this weekend; since her debut for the club in September 2019, the England international has recorded more clean sheets in the top flight than any other goalkeeper (45).
Leicester, United's opponents on Sunday, are looking to change their fortunes but have lost their last two games and could lose three in a row for the first time since December 2022 (a run of five).
Manchester City will look to go six points clear of Chelsea in the final game of the weekend. Chelsea are not in action until midweek due to their involvement in the Champions League semi-finals, with the Blues taking a 1-0 first-leg lead over Barcelona into Saturday's second leg at Stamford Bridge.
The Citizens know they need to keep their foot on the throttle as they pursue their first WSL title since 2016, a drought Gareth's Taylor's team are keen to end.
Their striker Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw leads the WSL scoring charts this season with 21 goals to her name. However, she limped off last time out and it is thought she may now miss the rest of the campaign through injury. Since the start of last season, she has recorded 51 WSL goal contributions – the most of any player (41 goals, 10 assists).
City will also be keen to further boost their goal tally as the title race could come down to goals scored, should Chelsea win their games in hand and both sides match each other's results for the rest of the season.
City have scored in each of their last 18 away WSL games (38 goals), the longest such streak they've ever managed in the competition's history.
Taylor's side have been ruthless this campaign, scoring 54 goals, with the likes of Lauren Hemp, Mary Fowler, Chloe Kelly and Jess Park all contributing. Only Shaw (24) has recorded more combined goals and assists than Hemp (15) in 2023-24.
Bristol City are the team tasked with stopping Taylor's juggernaut, and the Robins have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 29 WSL games, the longest such run any side has ever endured in the competition's history.
With the title race as close as ever and bottom clubs still fighting for survival, it promises to be another exciting weekend in the WSL
Skriniar hails PSG team-mates Mbappe and Dembele as best in the world
Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele were hailed as two of the best players in the world right now by Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Milan Skriniar after their starring roles in a 4-1 triumph over Lorient.
The duo were each on target twice at the Stade du Moustoir in Wednesday's contest as Luis Enrique's men took another step closer to the Ligue 1 title.
Speaking to RMC Sport, centre-back Skriniar had high praise for PSG's superstar duo after a game where he felt the team were not at their best.
"I don't think it was our best performance, because at 2-0, we could have controlled the match better," he said.
"We lost too many easy balls but we know that up front we are very strong. I think we have the two best players in the world [Mbappe and Dembele] at the moment so we are happy for the victory.
"For me, they are the two best players in the world. We know their qualities, they help always the team with their goals, with their actions, with everything they do.
"It's easy to play with them."
PSG are not quite over the line in Ligue 1 yet as second-placed Monaco defeated Lille 1-0 later on Wednesday.
It means PSG are 11 points clear of their rivals with only four games remaining and the title will be theirs with victory over Le Havre at the Parc des Princes on Saturday.
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