Manchester City may have the threat of being stripped of league titles in the courts hanging over them, but the champions are back in the race to win another Premier League crown on the pitch. They closed to within three points of Arsenal at the top of the table after beating Aston Villa 3-1 on Sunday.

Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez all struck before half-time at the Etihad stadium in Manchester. The Gunners still have a game in hand, but City will now move to the top of the table should they win at the Emirates stadium in London midweek.

The victory came at a cost as the Premier League's leading goalscorer appeared to have come down with a thigh injury as he clashed with Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

"Haaland had a knock, he was uncomfortable," said Guardiola. "At 3-0 we don't want to take risks. We'll see and assess in the next days. If he is not ready, we play another one. Hopefully he's ready but we will see." 

Elsewhere, Erik ten Hag hailed Marcus Rashford as one of Europe's best forwards after his late goal inspired Manchester United's 2-0 win against old rivals Leeds.

After Rashford scored to spark United's comeback from two goals down in Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Leeds, he tormented the Yorkshire club once again.

Rashford netted with 10 minutes left at Elland Road to make it four successive Premier League games with a goal for the England forward, who has scored in eight of his last nine appearances in the competition.

Following Alejandro Garnacho's frustrated reaction to being substituted on Wednesday, the Argentine teenager made amends as he came off the bench to seal United's hard-fought victory five minutes after Rashford's goal.

Asked if Rashford is among the best in Europe, Ten Hag said: "He's definitely one of them. He has the skills. I was convinced from the first moment. I was really excited to work with him. Yeah, I thought I could get more out of him."

In Spain, Pedri's strike earned Barcelona a battling 1-0 win over Villarreal to move 11 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

The champions, who won the Club World Cup on Saturday, face Elche midweek to try and bite back into the growing gap.

Barcelona rode their luck in a gripping clash at Estadio de la Ceramica but held off a Yellow Submarine onslaught to continue marching towards their goal of winning the title for the first time since 2019.

Defender Ronald Araujo in particular made a number of superb blocks and interceptions to help protect Barcelona's slim advantage until the end, locking in another clean sheet.

Barcelona have shut out opponents 16 times in 21 league games this season, conceding just seven goals.

"The truth is we are working really hard (defensively)," said Araujo. "We had to correct this from last season, when teams scored a lot of goals against us, and it was hard for us to keep clean sheets.

"We're doing well at the back and the midfielders aren't leaving spaces, the forwards too. It's the fruit of (our) work."