Bournemouth v Man City LIVE: Pep Guardiola responds to exit reports with Premier League title race on the line

We’re just minutes away from kick-off on the south coast with Manchester City’s title hopes very much on a knife-edge.

After what has been a crazy couple hours of build-up, made up mostly of developments not concerning this specific game, we now turn full focus to the Vitality.

A huge 90 minutes coming up. Arsenal will be watching on with the champagne on ice.

Here come the teams. Don’t, go, anywhere.

Antoine Semenyo returns to familiar territory for tonight’s must-win clash, facing his former side Bournemouth.

The winger joined Manchester City from the Cherries in January and has inspired Pep Guardiola’s side back into title contention having seemed off the pace at the halfway point.

However, the dream will end tonight if City can’t pull off a victory against his former employers.

Pep Guardiola has just spoken to Sky Sports ahead of tonight’s clash with Bournemouth, and we were all expecting for him to be asked about the noise regarding his reportedly imminent Manchester City exit.

That’s not what we got because Sky opted against asking him about the rumours directly.

Instead, Guardiola was only questioned whether the talk had affected his pre-match preparations, to which he responded: “Zero.”

Absolutely seismic news coming out of the Championship tonight.

An independent disciplinary commission has also given Southampton a four-point deduction, which will apply to next season’s Championship.

Pep Guardiola is set to conclude his remarkable decade-long reign at Manchester City this summer, leaving behind an unparalleled legacy of 20 trophies.

His potential departure would mark the end of an era defined by tactical innovation, relentless success, and a profound transformation of the club’s identity, and here are his most memorable moments during his time in the City dugout…

Andoni Iraola says guiding Bournemouth into Europe for the first time in the club’s 127-year history would be the perfect way to mark his final home game as head coach.

“It would be lovely for me,” said Iraola, who announced last month he will step down at the end of the season after three years in charge.

“It would be the best way to finish these amazing three seasons.

“Especially this year, it has been really challenging for me as a coach because we’ve changed a lot the team and we’ve changed, not completely our style, but it’s a different type of football comparing to last season.

“It would be the best way to end it.”

Manchester City need a victory tonight – but Andoni Iraola’s ambitious Cherries will hardly offer a walk-over.

Bournemouth have lofty dreams of their own and are targeting a spot in the Europa League. Iraola’s men are unbeaten in 16 matches – a run that goes back to January – which includes high-profile wins over Liverpool and Arsenal.

Adding City to the list of big clubs beaten this year would guarantee the Cherries at least sixth place in the league as well as a place in Europe so they have everything to play for tonight.

When other coaches are asked about Pep Guardiola, and almost invariably describe him as the game’s greatest manager, there’s usually one common compliment. The Catalan made them think about things they didn’t expect. He comes up with plays and tactics they couldn’t have imagined.

However, his allegiance to Manchester City – a “sportswashing” vehicle for the projection of the power of Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates – provokes questions about his legacy beyond the pitch.

The title could slip out of Manchester City’s grasp tonight if they don’t do the business against Bournemouth, after Arsenal scraped their way past Burnley last night to leave them on the brink of glory.

Here’s Miguel Delaney’s report from that potentially decisive result at the Emirates: