Guardiola reveals full backing for angry Zinchenko
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LONDON • Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola yesterday confirmed Ukraine defender Oleksandr Zinchenko had been emotionally affected by the Russian invasion of his homeland but remains ready to play if called upon.
Zinchenko, who also wears the armband for his national team, attended a vigil in the centre of Manchester on Thursday to protest against the invasion.
The 25-year-old has been very vocal about his support for Ukraine and his anger with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who on Thursday sanctioned a full-scale attack.
One of his latest Instagram stories video, which has since been deleted, had a caption that referred to Mr Putin and read: "I hope you die the most painful suffering death, creature."
Guardiola yesterday claimed he had no problems with Zinchenko expressing his opinion.
Ahead of today's trip to Everton, the Catalan said: "What would you do if someone abroad attacked the UK? It's how he feels. It's a worry, what we feel with our country where we were born. Killing innocent people, how would you feel? I guess that's how he feels.
"Of course, it's close to him. Of course he has our support. It happened in the country he was born, he loves, it's attacked from outside. He's tough and knows we are here."
Guardiola added he and the rest of the City's squad had discussed the situation with Zinchenko ahead of game at Goodison Park.
"We spoke (about) all of this, I spoke with him. Everyone, the friends. These are the headlines all around the world, it's a concern," he said.
"Oleks is incredibly strong, a really brilliant guy. Of course, it's not easy but today and yesterday in training, he was brilliant. He's ready to play in case he has to."On the injury front, Guardiola added that Brazil forward Gabriel Jesus and England midfielder Jack Grealish were both fit again and available to face the Toffees
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
YESTERDAY
Southampton v Norwich
Late kick-off
TODAY
Leeds v Tottenham
Ch102 & Ch227, 8.30pm
Man United v Watford
Ch102 & Ch227, 11pm
Brighton v Aston Villa
Ch103 & Ch228, 10.50pm
Palace v Burnley
Ch104 & Ch229, 10.50pm
Brentford v Newcastle
Ch105 & Ch230, 10.50pm
Everton v Man City
Ch102 & Ch227, tomorrow, 1.30am
TOMORROW
West Ham v Wolves
Ch102 & Ch227, 10pm
WEDNESDAY
Burnley v Leicester
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All on Singtel TV & StarHub
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
1 Man City 26 20 3 3 63 17 63
2 Liverpool 26 18 6 2 70 20 60
3 Chelsea 25 14 8 3 49 18 50
4 Man Utd 26 13 7 6 44 34 46
5 Arsenal 24 14 3 7 38 27 45
6 West Ham 26 12 6 8 45 34 42
7 Wolves 25 12 4 9 24 20 40
8 Tottenham 24 12 3 9 31 32 39
9 Brighton 25 7 12 6 25 28 33
10 Southampton 25 7 11 7 32 37 32
11 Palace 26 6 11 9 36 37 29
12 Leicester 23 7 6 10 37 43 27
13 Aston Villa 24 8 3 13 31 37 27
14 Brentford 26 6 6 14 27 42 24
15 Leeds 25 5 8 12 29 56 23
16 Everton 23 6 4 13 28 40 22
17 Newcastle 24 4 10 10 26 45 22
18 Burnley 23 3 11 9 21 29 20
19 Watford 25 5 3 17 25 47 18
20 Norwich 25 4 5 16 15 53 17
.Like City, Everton also have a Ukrainian player in their ranks, defender Vitalii Mykolenko.
On Zinchenko's international teammate, Toffees boss Frank Lampard said yesterday: "He's OK. I've spoken to him, the club have spoken to him.
"He has every bit of support we could possibly give him from our end in terms of personal touch, club support, if and when he needs it."
Everton remain mired in relegation trouble - they sit in 16th, just two points above the bottom three - and Lampard has endured a baptism of fire, losing two of his three league games since taking charge earlier this month.
Today's game will be another exacting test and the former Chelsea boss is worried about facing a backlash from Guardiola's side, who are eager to bounce back from their shock loss at home to Tottenham last weekend.
"Their winning record is incredible this season, even when they lose, it doesn't generally look like a normal loss," he said.
REUTERS
EVERTON V MAN CITY
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