Manchester City ready to pounce

Manchester City will be poised to pounce if Premier League leaders Liverpool falter, following a comfortable 3-0 win over Wolves on Monday that left City four points behind Jurgen Klopp's side, coach Pep Guardiola said.

Two first-half goals from Gabriel Jesus, either side of a straight red card for Wolves' French defender Willy Boly, allowed City to demonstrate that they had banished their shaky December form.

The City manager was in no mood to analyse the table and insisted he is interested only in his own team's performances.

“We cannot play the games against Liverpool, we cannot do anything about them,” Guardiola said.

“We’ve done incredible numbers after last season, but one team has done better than us so far,” he said.

“All we can do is be there until the end and the results will dictate who will win.”

Two weeks into 2019, City have scored a remarkable 21 goals in four home games this year and have hit 99 in all competitions already in the current campaign.

Boly’s rash challenge, an out-of-control, one-footed lunge at Bernardo Silva, may not have been malicious but was deserving of a red card.

“It was quite a bad tackle but I’m fine,” Silva said.

“Yes, he did apologise at the end of the game. These things happen,” he said.

City’s Kevin De Bruyne was brought on from the bench just after the hour.

And, in a lively performance, it was his cross, following a 78th-minute short corner, that was deflected into his own goal by Wolves’ Conor Coady.