Pep Guardiola’s bizarre ‘contaminated’ Leeds United claim as Kalvin Phillips ‘misses’ Whites

As Leeds United prepare for their first Premier League game in over a month, can they shock the world when they take on Manchester City? Pep Guardiola has warned the Whites.

Elsewhere, it hasn’t been going Kalvin Phillips’ way in Manchester this season. He’s made just a single appearance for the Sky Blues this campaign - Leeds head coach Jesse Marsch has issued a claim on his behalf.

Guardiola issues Leeds warning

Jesse Marsch has recently expressed his admiration for Manchester City’s star striker, Erling Haaland. The Norweigian has been a sensation since joining City in the summer, scoring 18 goals in 13 Premier League appearances.

However, Pep Guardiola has dismissed Marsch’s compliments, saying (per Mail Online): “Hopefully Erling cannot be contaminated with the nice words from the opponent. I think he will be ready and I'm pretty sure Jesse would prefer to play with our good players on the pitch.”

Guardiola also said: “It will not be a friendly game. They want to win, we want to win. Their fans will push their team.”

Phillips ‘misses’ being at Leeds

In a recent press conference, Jesse Marsch has speculated that Kalvin Phillips ‘misses’ his time at Elland Road. Marsch said (per Yorkshire Evening Post): “We still miss Kalvin. He came for one of our matches, Fulham, and you could see he felt the pain of losing that match with us after the match.

“He was still here and he missed being here. Of course he misses being here, he misses the guys, he’s got a lot of great friends, this club is in his heart.”

Phillips has come under scrutiny at Manchester City recently. Pep Guardiola has claimed that the midfielder returned to training “overweight” - with the 27-year-old already out of favour at the Etihad Stadium, it seems likely that his playing time could remain minimal. He signed for Manchester City in the summer for an initial fee of £42 million.