In a bid to shake things up, Guardiola made several changes including a first start at Villa Park for Grealish since he left his boyhood club in 2021 for a £100million transfer fee.
Peter Crouch and Joleon Lescott have provided their verdict on Pep Guardiola's Manchester City future following his side's latest setback. City were beaten 2-1 away by Aston Villa on Saturday.
The exchange led to some supporters on social media speculating that Guardiola was attempting to entice the Belgian to join his side in the January window.
ASTON VILLA 2-1 MANCHESTER CITY - JACK GAUGHAN AT VILLA PARK: Insipid again. Uninspiring on the ball. Lacking backbone without it. We've seen all that before.
Mourinho was in the dugout as Fenerbahce drew 1-1 with Eyupspor in the league on Friday, and in fact gave a damning assessment of his side's performance and the quality of the match.
City's captain has been forced to settle for a place on the bench for a critical clash which could see the hosts overtake he champions with a win. He is one of six casualties.
The Manchester City star opened up on his unlikely friendship with Elton John, who is an honorary life-president of Watford - and Grealish admitted he often gets a phone call from the legendary singer.
RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: There's a tattoo on Mykhailo Mudryk's throat which reads: 'Talent ain't enough.' What we really need to know is whether talent had a little help.
THE SHARPE END: For those not from the red end of Merseyside, it's easy to forget quite how dominant the Liverpool side were that won the Premier League title five seasons ago.
At around 7pm on Friday a car drove into a group of people attending the market in the east German city. The driver of the car, reported to be a dark BMW, was arrested following the crash.
Mail Sport exclusively revealed that the hearing into the Premier League's charges against City concluded on December 6. The Premier League accused them of multiple breaches of financial rules.
IAN LADYMAN: Ten minutes before the end of their team's last Premier League home game against Chelsea, two Tottenham fans scuffled at the back of the South Stand.
The Blackpool-born winger did not play in his country's only major tournament win but he was a part of Sir Alf Ramsey's squad which triumphed on home soil 58 years ago.
Mourinho's side were unable to find a winner in the second half and as a result, lost further ground to Galatasaray, who now sit five points clear with a game in hand.
Every day we'll challenge you to name a different starting XI from the Premier League era. We'll give you a team's rough formation, and the number of letters in each player's name. Then it's up to you!
It's the Premier League's final round of fixtures before Christmas with teams at the top and the bottom of the table looking to give their fans an early gift this weekend.
JACK GAUGHAN: The 21-year-old was set to be handed the right wing berth by Pep Guardiola at the start of the season following an impressive pre-season in the United States.
Arteta landed his first managerial job in December 2019 when the Gunners came calling after he had previously worked under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
Former Adelaide United star Nestory Irankunda has made a shock request to secure a loan move from Bayern Munich as he seeks more first-team opportunities
JACK GAUGHAN: City will try to reignite their season by swooping for up to three players in next month's transfer window, but Guardiola fears the club will not get value for money.
ISAAN KHAN: Friday marks five years since Mikel Arteta took charge of Arsenal - a reign that's been filled with many highs, a few lows, and most pivotally, an exhaustive rebuild.