EPL: De Bruyne may not start against Chelsea, says Guardiola

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is not guaranteed to be in the starting lineup when the league leaders host Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.

De Bruyne, 27, was one of City's most influential players last season with eight goals and 16 assists, and he averaged 36 league appearances in the last two seasons for the champions.

Knee injuries have sidelined him for large parts of this season, however, and the Belgium international has started only four Premier League games.

"It's quite possible," Guardiola told reporters when he was asked whether De Bruyne would be on the bench.

"At the end, we judge the players for who they are but they are there to perform.

"There are times when team mates are in better condition. In football, what you have done in the past, you have to do in future."

De Bruyne did not start Wednesday's 2-0 win at Everton, and Guardiola said it was a tactical decision to leave him on the bench.

"At Goodison (Park) they play with a lot of set-pieces, we are not a tall team so we wanted players for that," Guardiola said.

"We try to control the players, he (De Bruyne) played the last two. At Everton he got a few minutes, I want him to play as much as possible, he went out for five minutes and he was incredible.

"I want him to sustain that for a long time. When you're out a long time, I don't want him playing game (after) game."

Liverpool players must fight with every fibre: Klopp

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp has urged his players to give "every fibre of their bodies" in the battle for the Premier League title.

Manchester City moved to the top of the league on Wednesday for the first time since December after Klopp's side limped to back-to-back draws against Leicester City and West Ham United.

However, Klopp has dismissed the notion that Liverpool are wilting under the pressure of bidding for their first top division title in 29 years.

"I got a message this week, another sign that people think I need help – I don't need help, I'm fine – but it said in the last 10 games City dropped 12 points and we dropped seven," Klopp told reporters ahead of Saturday's game against Bournemouth.

"Is it interesting for me? Not really, but obviously the view from outside is completely different.

"The good news is we are still in there but the only chance to improve is by winning football games. We will be ready with each fibre of our bodies to fight for everything."

Klopp confirmed centre-back Joe Gomez will be out for up to six weeks as he continues to recover from leg surgery, but Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum took part in first-team training this week.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is recovering from a long-term knee injury, was added to the Champions League squad but Klopp played down expectations regarding the return of the England midfielder.

"If we go to the semi-final I think he is available," Klopp added.

"Maybe quarter-final, I am not 100 percent sure, but he still needs time. Everything looks fine, but now I wait for the green light of the medical department... We are not at that point in the moment."

Sala was ready for Premier League, says Cardiff's Warnock

Argentine striker Emiliano Sala, who died in a plane crash last month, would have thrived in the Premier League with Cardiff City, the club's manager Neil Warnock said on Friday.

Sala joined Cardiff in January and was flying to the Welsh city from his former French club Nantes when his plane disappeared over the sea on Jan. 21.

Authorities abandoned the search for the plane three days later but a privately-funded underwater search found the wreckage on Sunday and a body retrieved was formally identified on Thursday as Sala's.

"I always thought he was a type of player that would score 10 or 15 for me at the top level every year. But not just that, he would work hard as a team player," Warnock told reporters ahead of Saturday's Premier League trip to Southampton.

"He was at the prime, I felt, and he knew he had things to prove. He'd been in a comfort zone in France, he'd improved every year.

"I think he was ready, if a little bit fearful of the challenge ahead."

Warnock said Cardiff had asked the Premier League to wear shirts with a yellow daffodil to pay tribute to Sala and David Ibbotson, the pilot of the aircraft.

"When something like this happens it brings all the football family together. It's a loss to everyone in football," Warnock added.

"I know we're the closest, but when you see the response from world-class players and the amount of money they were able to raise (to resume the search for the wreckage) in the space of a few hours, it was amazing."

Clubs in France's Ligue 1 and 2, where Sala played for the majority of his career, will hold a minute's applause before this weekend's matches in his memory.

No rift with Vardy, says Leicester's Puel

Leicester City manager Claude Puel has dismissed talk of a rift with Jamie Vardy, saying he had no problem with the striker's angry reaction following last week's 1-0 Premier League defeat by Manchester United.

Television cameras captured Vardy appearing upset as Puel spoke to United midfielder and fellow Frenchman Paul Pogba, but the manager said his striker was merely showing his frustration after the narrow defeat.

"I have a good relationship with Jamie. We know Jamie after a loss he is angry, it's normal for a player," Puel told a news conference ahead of Sunday's league trip to Tottenham Hotspur.

"If I thought one of my players was disrespectful to me or the club there would be a sanction. But that is not the case with Jamie."

Asked if he had clarified the matter with Vardy, Puel said: "I said what I wanted to say about these things. I think it is clear from me. After we discuss things with the player -- these things are between us."

Leicester, who are 11th in the standings with 32 points from 25 games, are looking to end a run of four league matches without a victory.

Chelsea's Hazard relishing partnership with Higuain

Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard is convinced that he can form a great partnership with the club's new striker Gonzalo Higuain after playing two matches together.

Chelsea signed Higuain on loan from Juventus last month and the Argentina striker scored twice in last week's 5-0 thumping of the Premier League's bottom club Huddersfield Town.

Hazard, who also scored two goals in that game at Stamford Bridge, said he was already enjoying playing alongside the former Real Madrid and Napoli striker.

"I've only played two games with Higuain and I know we can do something great together, not only with him but also with the other strikers, the other winger," Hazard told The Times ahead of Sunday's league meeting with Manchester City.

"Chelsea is not about Higuain and Hazard, it is about 25 players. But Higuain is a fantastic striker."

Victory over Huddersfield followed league defeats by Arsenal and Bournemouth where midfielder Jorginho was man-marked to nullify the Italy international's influence.

"If one guy is marking him all the time, we need to adapt also. Jorginho is always trying to be free to take the ball to create something. He's a fantastic player," Hazard said.

Manager Maurizio Sarri has also faced questions about his insistence on playing N'Golo Kante on the right side of midfield instead of in his natural holding role, but Hazard believes the Frenchman has to adapt.

"N'Golo's a clever guy, one of the best in his position, maybe the best in the world. N'Golo now plays six months in the different position. He needs to adapt," Hazard said.

"When we win, everyone will say, 'yes, he plays in his (best) position, and if we lose everyone will say, 'no, he needs to go a bit behind'. Depends only on the result."

Hazard said Chelsea still need time to adapt to Sarri's possession-based style of play, which contrasts to the counter-attacking football of previous managers Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho.

"Sometimes we keep possession, and I understand the fans want us to go forward (more directly), but it is part of the football," Hazard said.

"We are still learning about his concept. We are doing well. I like this kind of football."

Hasselbaink backs Sarri to deliver success at Chelsea

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri deserves time and trust from the club to iron out flaws in his possession-based playing style and make the club consistent again, former striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has said.

Former Napoli boss Sarri made a bright start to his Chelsea career, guiding them to 12 league games without defeat, but the club have since struggled and slipped to fourth in the standings.

The Italian has also been criticised by fans and analysts for playing N'Golo Kante, one of the world's leading holding midfielders, out of position in order to accommodate Italian Jorginho as his deep-lying playmaker.

"I think the criticism is a little unfair towards him, he had a really good start to the season," Hasselbaink, who played for Chelsea from 2000-2004, told Sky Sports News.

"You need to give him the time, it's only six or seven months that he's been in the building, so you need to give him the time and you need to give him the trust.

"He's put Kante in a different position because he sees that position in a different way and that's where it (the criticism) started. Whatever you say, Kante's the best defensive midfield player at winning the ball back, so that has raised eyebrows."

Sarri, who has also deployed playmaker Eden Hazard as a withdrawn forward in some matches before the arrival of striker Gonzalo Higuain, has previously said he is determined to make his approach work.

Former Netherlands international Hasselbaink backed Sarri to eventually get things right and deliver success.

"He believes in playing football in a certain way and that is dominating the ball in possession," the 46-year-old added.

"That's how he believes Chelsea is eventually going to win titles and cups."

Chelsea take on defending champions and league leaders Manchester City on Sunday.