MANCHESTER, England -- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Pep Guardiola were at the centre of a disagreement over tactical fouls on the eve of Wednesday's crucial Manchester derby.

The Manchester United manager held a news conference early on Tuesday and claimed that City deliberately foul high up the pitch to stop opponents from counter-attacking.

But Guardiola rubbished the claims at his own news conference in the afternoon, insisting he has never set up a team he has managed to foul tactically.

- Manchester Derby a nightmare scenario for United

- Sterling wants nine-point deduction to tackle racism

"We have got to be ready for the press, for their pressing, they have got quality on the ball, so we have got to defend well," Solskjaer told a news conference.

"When we win it we have got to be ready for their aggression, because they will snap at your ankles and heels and kick you, they are not going to allow us easy counter-attacking because there will be fouls.

"I have absolutely no doubt about it because when you watch those games they commit so many players forward and they will be stopping us as high as they can I think."

Asked about making tackles high up the pitch, Solskjaer added: "You don't get the yellow cards, do you? But that's just because they commit so many players forward and you can clearly see that they've got them in that mould of trying to win the ball back, and they do make fouls.

"It's up to us to play through that press, be ready enough, play one and two-touch, don't give them time. If you spend two or three touches... it's not my decision."

Solskjaer's comments left some at City some baffled with one source sharing statistics with ESPN FC that don't reflect well on United.

City have committed 288 fouls to United's 381 this season, with 170 in the opposition half compared to 195 for their neighbours. Guardiola's side are also top of the Fair Play table with United in 19th.

Asked if the comments could influence the performance of the referee, the Catalan coach said: "That is the reason why, of course. I don't think [it could be successful] because we don't do that."

Guardiola said he wants his team to win the ball quickly, but insisted that he had never instructed his players to deliberately foul.

"I know exactly what I said to my players from day one to the last day," he said. "So when a player wants to attack, we have to be honest and of course there is contact, there are fouls, but when it happens and you arrive late and that is why there are referees, to make yellow cards or red cards or whatever they decide

"We want to do our game, sometimes it's not possible. Sometimes it's difficult to understand that, but the other teams play too. But I never said I'm going to do that to punish them or cancel them making having fouls. Never."

Barcelona have one hand firmly on the La Liga title after winning 2-0 at Alaves on Tuesday, leaving them 12 points clear at the top of the table with four games to play.

Should second place Atletico Madrid lose at Valencia on Wednesday or against Real Valladolid on Saturday, Barcelona will be champions before they face Levante that evening.

However, Sergio Busquets said he would prefer to win the title at home to celebrate in front of the Camp Nou faithful than to win because of an Atleti slip.

He said: "We would like to win La Liga at home on our own merit and in front of our fans, but at the end of the day it's won when it's won. I hope that it comes as soon as possible but it's better to celebrate it at Camp Nou. What we've done in recent years [nearly eight titles in 11 years] is historic."

With one eye on next week's Champions League semifinal against Liverpool, Ernesto Valverde picked a side with Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba and Arthur among other regular starters on the bench.

After a turgid first half, Barcelona stepped up a gear in the second and midfielder Carles Alena sent the Catalans ahead at Mendizorroza after 54 minutes.

Arturo Vidal and Sergio Roberto combined well, the latter threading a pass through to Alena which Luis Suarez cleverly stepped over, allowing the 21-year-old to coolly slot home.

Suarez added the second from the penalty spot after Tomas Pina's handball was spotted by VAR, putting Barcelona in touching distance of their 26th league title.

Samuel Umtiti bundled home from an offside position but after VAR ruled out the defender's goal, the handball by Pina was penalised.

Valverde brought on Messi, Alba and Arthur in the final stages to help Barcelona see the game out, with title celebrations poised for Saturday, or sooner. Alaves are eighth.

"We started well, we could have gone ahead in the first half," said Alena.

"It took a superb move [to break through], a great ball by Sergi that Luis left for me. He saw me coming behind him and he's such a world class player that he was aware of my movement.

"Let's wait and see what Atletico do tomorrow. If they fail, we're champions. I think we deserve this title, we've been the best team."

Southampton forward Shane Long broke a Premier League record for the quickest-ever goal when he scored on 7.69 seconds against Watford on Wednesday as the hosts struck late to earn a 1-1 draw.

The previous fastest goal was scored in 9.82 seconds by Ledley King for Tottenham against Bradford in 2000.

Long beat Ben Foster after intercepting an attempted clearance by Watford's Craig Cathcart just after kickoff.

Watford's Andre Gray had gone close twice only to be foiled by Saints keeper Angus Gunn, but in the final minute of normal time he found the net from close range.

The rest of the top five for fastest Premier League goals includes Alan Shearer's strike for Newcastle against Manchester City in 2002-03 on 10.52 seconds in third, Spurs' Christian Eriksen against Manchester United in 2017-18 on 10.54 seconds in fourth and in fifth place, Mark Viduka for Leeds against Charlton in 200-01 on 11.90 seconds.

The 178th Manchester derby between United and City, on Wednesday at Old Trafford, will be crucial in deciding the outcome of this season's Premier League title race, but the result of this game will mean as much in Liverpool as it does in Manchester.

With United languishing in sixth position, it is all about whether City can claim the win that will put them on course for the title or if the home side can get the draw or victory that would tilt the balance in Liverpool's favour.

But with United able to decide the fate of their two biggest rivals, this derby is different to any other.

So why does this game matter so much?

This game was originally scheduled for mid-March, but the involvement of both clubs in the FA Cup quarterfinals forced it to be rescheduled for this crucial stage of the league season.

The added dimension is that United know that a win or draw will put traditional rivals Liverpool in pole position to win their first league title for 29 years. Nobody at Old Trafford wants to see Liverpool as champions, but if City win, they will have the title within their grasp instead. This game really is the nightmare scenario for United, who also need to win to boost their chances of finishing in the top four and qualifying for the Champions League.

What's the big deal about United winning to help Liverpool win the title?

Historically, United and Liverpool are, by some distance, the biggest and most successful clubs in England. United have won 20 titles, Liverpool have won 18. Their rivalry is more than a century old and has often been marred by bitterness and hostility on and off the pitch. Liverpool dominated during the 1970s and 1980s before Sir Alex Ferguson's United became the superpower during the 1990s and 2000s, with United winning 13 titles between 1993 and 2013 to eclipse Liverpool's previous record of 18 titles.

They are two of the biggest clubs in the world, each with a huge global fan base, and their rivalry is as deep-rooted as they come.

Why don't United fans view City as bigger rivals than Liverpool?

The rivalry between United and City has intensified since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan began to plough his vast fortune into City in 2008 -- prompting Sir Alex Ferguson to describe them as "noisy neighbours" in 2009 -- but United have traditionally regarded their rivalries with Liverpool, Arsenal and Leeds United as bigger and more important.

-- Premier League sprint to the finish -- How Man City changed football forever

Aside from a brief spell of success in the 1960s, City rarely challenged until the arrival of Sheikh Mansour, so United supporters have barely regarded them as true rivals. That has now changed but Liverpool are the only club who can come close to matching United's all-time trophy haul and history matters more than the success of their neighbours -- at least for now.

Are United capable of beating City?

On current form, United are huge outsiders even at home. City have won their past 10 Premier League games and on their past two league visits to Old Trafford, while United go into the match having lost six of their past eight games in all competitions. Pep Guardiola's City are the definition of relentless consistency and United, who lost 4-0 at Everton on Sunday, are the polar opposite. But United fought back from 2-0 down at half-time to win 3-2 at City last season and only last month stunned Paris Saint-Germain with a 3-1 Champions League victory at the Parc des Princes.

United have the players to beat City, but recent performances suggest that they won't.

Has this scenario ever happened before?

In 1995, Liverpool found themselves in a similar situation that United face against City. Liverpool knew that a win against Blackburn Rovers, managed by Anfield legend Kenny Dalglish, on the final day of the season would help United win the title and deny Dalglish a historic success with his new club. Liverpool ended up scoring a last minute goal to win 2-1 but United failed to take advantage, with Ferguson's men only able to draw 1-1 at West Ham.

Had United won their game, Liverpool's win would have been crucial in handing them the title.

United were hammered 4-0 at Everton on Sunday. How will they respond?

First of all, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has his own problems to deal with. United need a win to keep alive any realistic hopes of qualifying for the Champions League with a top-four finish, so the Norwegian cannot afford to make wholesale changes and turn to inexperienced youngsters. Rather than making wholesale changes, he's likely to rely on his players wanting to restore personal pride by producing a winning performance against City.

-- Pogba: Man United were 'disrespectful' vs. Everton
-- Guardiola: United trip no longer 'scary'

There's also the issue of upholding United's name and the integrity of the Premier League by pushing City all the way for the points, regardless of what it may mean for Liverpool.

Is the title all over for Liverpool if City win?

No, but Jurgen Klopp's team know that this game is their best hope of City dropping points. United have lost just once at home in the league this season -- against Tottenham last August -- so this is a tough fixture for City. If City come through this one with a win, Liverpool will need them to drop points against Burnley (a), Leicester (h) or Brighton (a) to have any hope of ending their 29-year title drought.

The race will still be on if City win, but Guardiola's men will be in the final straight with the finishing line in sight.

Who are the key men for both teams?

David de Gea and Paul Pogba have both been well below their best in recent weeks, but if they rediscover their form against City, United can win the game. Yet if they perform as poorly as they have been doing, City will cruise to victory.

For City, the form of Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero and Bernardo Silva has been crucial during their 10-game winning run in the league and United need to stop all three to take anything from the game.

What's going to happen?

Despite United's woeful performance at Everton, the clash against City really is too close to call because Solskjaer's men will be expected to show their true colours. In many ways, United's hammering at the weekend was a bad result for City because the pressure is on them to bounce back on Wednesday.

City have the greater depth and quality but United are a wounded animal on their own turf, so expect fireworks and a night of unbearable tension in Liverpool.

England's World Cup-bound IPL contingent are due back in the coming days, ahead of ODIs against Ireland and Pakistan, while several other members of the squad have been in Royal London Cup action. A week into the 50-over competition, we take a look at who's up and who's down.

Jason Roy
Roy missed Surrey's opening Championship fixture as he continued his recovery from a hamstring injury sustained with England in the Caribbean. His Royal London Cup started with innings of 19 and 9, and worse seemingly followed at The Oval on Tuesday, when he left the field after fours overs against Essex. Initial reports suggested another hamstring issue but that was later updated to a back spasm - and Roy was fit enough to return at the fall of the seventh Surrey wicket, scoring 19 off 11 balls to finish on 35 not out.

Liam Plunkett
With Jofra Archer set to press his case for promotion to the World Cup squad, Plunkett is currently the bowler under most scrutiny. The 34-year-old switched counties over the winter, but looked rusty when taking 1 for 85 on his Championship debut for Surrey and then received further punishment at the start of the Royal London campaign - recording figures of 7-0-67-0 and 6-0-57-1 in games at Bristol and Hove. However, he did return to wicket-taking form against Essex, with 4 for 50 to go alongside an excellent catch to remove Tom Westley.

Alex Hales
Despite only being contracted for white-ball cricket by Nottinghamshire, Hales was given time off for "personal reasons" and is not expected to feature for them in the Royal London Cup. Hales has recently found himself as the back-up batsman in England's ODI squad but opened twice in the Caribbean in March, when Roy was sidelined by injury. Since that tour, Hales' only cricket has been two T20 matches at the PSL, and although his England availability is not said to be in doubt, it is hardly ideal prep for the World Cup.

Chris Woakes
Woakes' fitness has been closely monitored as England seek to manage his long-term knee injury. He was left out of the squad to face Ireland next week, and the subsequent T20I against Pakistan, in order to keep his workload down - and the same goes for his RLC appearances. He claimed 3 for 47 in Warwickshire's tie with Yorkshire in their opening game before being rested as part of an agreement with the ECB for Sunday's trip to Northampton. Got through a full ten overs, though finished wicketless, against Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

Mark Wood
Second only to worries about nursing Woakes through the World Cup is the question of whether Wood can stay fit. Having come through three lots of ankle surgery to catch fire again on England's tour of the Caribbean, where he regularly bowled in excess of 90mph, Wood was due to be available for Durham at the start of the season - specifically, the ECB pinpointed a fixture at Derby in the opening round of the Championship and RLC games on April 17 and 24. The England medical staff are reportedly exercising caution after scans on his ankle, but thus far Wood has yet to feature at all for his county.

Joe Denly
Denly made his IPL debut this year, although it was not the happiest of experiences as he made a golden duck opening the batting for Kolkata Knight Riders. Having otherwise sat on the fringes, and due home by April 26 for an England training camp, Denly tweeted on Saturday that he was heading back early to get ready for the summer's main event. Denly hasn't actually played an ODI since 2009, but made the preliminary World Cup squad and appeared in decent touch when making 56 from 69 balls in Kent's RLC match at Bristol. Of concern, though, was the fact he failed to take to the field during Gloucestershire's innings with Kent assistant coach Allan Donald confirming: "Joe Denly suffered a back spasm while batting that we need to manage".

And the good news…
Among those at the IPL, Jonny Bairstow has enjoyed a standout debut campaign, currently the tournament's second-leading run-scorer after playing his final game, in Chennai, on Tuesday. Having scored just two half-centuries in his previous 18 white-ball innings for England, he looks to have made a timely return to form. There have also been impressive performances in India from Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and Jofra Archer, although Ben Stokes has not had quite the same success. On the county scene, Tom Curran has been in good form, while there has been consistent game time for Eoin Morgan, Chris Jordan, David Willey and Adil Rashid. The Test captain, Joe Root, made scores of 73, 130 not out and 94 in two Championship games but has so far sat out the RLC.

Oman 177 for 3 (Jatinder 65, Nadeem 31*, Kinchit 1-25) beat Hong Kong 176 (Babar 56, Bilal 4-30) by seven wickets

Left-arm swing bowler Bilal Khan bagged four wickets on one of his favourite hunting grounds at Wanderers before Jatinder Singh's half-century paced a simple chase. Oman thus continued their undefeated run at WCL Division Two with a seven-wicket win over Hong Kong. Oman are now in the driver's seat for one of the four ODI status berths up for grabs in the tournament, and can be the first team to clinch it with a win over Namibia on Wednesday.

Man of the Match Bilal struck a massive blow in the third over, claiming the tournament's leading scorer Anshy Rath for just 3, caught in the slips by Jatinder. Hong Kong's innings finally started to stabilise around Babar Hayat and Tanwir Afzal, who added 62 for the fifth wicket to take them to 109 for 4 in the 32nd, but Bilal's intervention broke the stand with Tanwir dismissed for 32.

Hayat carried on to top-score with 56, but was the third of legspinning allrounder Khawar Ali's victims, to leave Hong Kong 149 for 7. Bilal was then brought back to wipe out the tail in the 48th over. A run out of last recognised batsman Scott McKechnie for 26 was followed by wickets on back-to-back balls for Bilal, finishing off Hong Kong for 176 with two overs unused.

Oman faced little pressure in the field, with the Hong Kong bowling unit lacking any spark as Jatinder and Khawar coasted through a 79-run opening stand in the first 21 overs. Khawar was runout for 28 to break the stand, but Jatinder compiled 49 runs in tandem with Aqib Ilyas before both fell in quick succession to the spin duo of Kinchit Shah and Jhatavedh Subramanyan. Captain Zeeshan Maqsood and Mohammad Nadeem knocked off the remaining 43 runs without much fuss. Nadeem ended unbeaten on 31, and has yet to be dismissed in the tournament.

USA 128 for 0 (Monank 70*, Marshall 54*) beat Papua New Guinea 127 (Siaka 32, Gore 4-23, Khan 3-41) by 10 wickets

After being on the brink of starting the tournament 0-2 needing to take four wickets with two overs to go in their thrilling two-run win against Namibia, USA are now 2-1 after walloping Papua New Guinea by 10 wickets at Affies Park.

The last time these two teams met in one-day cricket was in 2011 at WCL Division Three in Hong Kong, when Papua New Guinea sent USA in to bat under heavy cloud cover and bowled them out for 44. It took eight years, but USA finally exactly a heavy dose of revenge. The new-ball exploits of Ali Khan and an incisive spell of left-arm spin by Karima Gore decimated the middle order.

On a ground where chasing targets has traditionally been best after the pitch flattens out in the afternoon sun, PNG chose to bat first at the toss and paid the price as Khan produced another hostile spell of fast bowling to take three wickets in the Powerplay, giving him a tournament best 12 wickets after three matches. It began with a brute of a delivery to Tony Ura ,who edged to Steven Taylor at second slip, before a pair of inswingers trapped Sese Bau and Assad Vala leg before to leave PNG 19 for 3.

Gore arrived in the 24th but attacked the stumps from ball one. His first three wickets were lbw decisions. Chad Soper and Lega Siaka prodded down the wrong line to arm balls before Jason Kila was late on a sweep. Damien Ravu was bowled by Gore for the final wicket as the innings lasted just 39.3 overs.

Monank Patel and Xavier Marshall batted 10 overs before lunch to take USA to 49 for 0. PNG extended a streak of three maidens with two more to start after the break, but Monank and Marshall exploded shortly thereafter, scoring 79 off the next 43 balls to end the match. Monank took Siaka's part-time spin apart in the 19th, driving three sixes in a 22-run frame, and was named Man of the Match.

Namibia 258 for 6 (Baard 90, Williams 65*, Saad 2-32) beat Canada 160 (Frylinck 3-24, Groenewald 3-42) by 98 runs

Stephan Baard's 90 at the top of the order was bookended by an unbeaten 65 from Craig Williams as Namibia bounced back from their final-over loss to USA to notch a 98-run win over Canada. Namibia moves to 2-1 with the win while Canada remains the only winless team in the tournament at 0-3, as their hopes of reclaiming ODI status hang by a thread.

Baard and Jean Bredenkamp added 73 for the second wicket to steady the innings after the loss of JP Kotze in the Powerplay for just 6. Bredenkamp eventually fell to left-arm spinner Saad bin Zafar, who along with Nikhil Dutta took two wickets each to slow down Namibia in the middle stage of the innings.

But Williams produced half-century stands with Baard and JJ Smit to keep Namibia on course for a well-above par total at United's sluggish outfield. Smit clubbed three sixes in his 35 off 23 balls to dominate a 51-run stand with Williams before falling in the 49th over to Romesh Eranga.

Canada's batting struggles in Namibia continued once again as six of the top seven got starts but none passed Rodrigo Thomas' 28. Dilon Heyliger wound up top-scoring from No. 10 with an unbeaten 29 to save Canada from taking an even bigger hit to their net run rate.

It's difficult to get noticed in a team that contains Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, but Moeen Ali has definitely made his presence felt at Royal Challengers Bangalore this season.

While Kohli (387), de Villiers (332) and Parthiv Patel (283) have more runs than Moeen (216), his runs have come at the best strike-rate of anyone in the team - 168.75. Moeen played crucial roles in Royal Challengers winning their two most-recent matches. His 66 off 28 balls set the platform for a 200-plus total against Kolkata Knight Riders, and his 26 off 16 ensured Royal Challengers piled on enough - just about - to beat Chennai Super Kings.

"My job in the team is to do that [take the pressure off Kohli and de Villiers]," Moeen said on the eve of Royal Challengers' match against Kings XI Punjab. "It is very difficult for a team to win if you rely on just two guys batting because they feel the pressure as well. My job is to come and score some runs and be part of the batting group and contribute in winning games.

"I think it gives a lot of confidence if Virat and AB don't score, or if one of them doesn't play, like AB didn't against KKR, we can still score 200-plus. I have the confidence in my own game and belief that I can also score runs just as quick as them and take games away from the opposition. It won't always happen but I know I can do that.

"I might be a quiet sort of person, but I'm quite confident in my own game. Before I even came to RCB, I said to myself I wanted to score the runs that I could. I know I can do it, it is just going out and having the confidence to do it."

Apart from Moeen's contributions, one other feature of Royal Challengers' last two games was the difference Dale Steyn made to their attack. In their first eight matches of the season, their bowlers had only taken three wickets in the Powerplay overs, at an average of 144.33. In their last two games, they've taken seven at an average of 9.85, with Steyn claiming four.

"He's been massive," Moeen said. "We didn't take wickets in Powerplays and now since he has come, we've been taking wickets. When you take two, three, four wickets [in Powerplays], most of the time you're going to win the game.

"I think just the name of Dale Steyn [is enough], well he has not played much in the last couple of years, but he still has class. The way he bowls, the swing… he pitches it up, he's quite brave in the way he bowls. It's probably the thing that we've been lacking in this team and it has cost us in a few games. But having him has been huge for our bowlers as well - the way he sets the tone in the first couple of overs. Anybody can get smashed but he has been fantastic."

Wednesday's game will be Moeen's last of the season before he leaves to join England's camp ahead of the World Cup. This means he will miss at least three games for Royal Challengers.

"It's not ideal, obviously," Moeen said. "I think it's worse when there're three games to go, that there's not much cricket left and you always think, 'I could've played those three games.' If there were six, seven games, it was a little more understandable. But it's a small window. And knowing that there could be a chance of going through if we win all our games, then you miss out on a potential semi-final and stuff.

"But I'll definitely keep an eye out and see how they're going, hoping that we're winning all our games. It's also difficult to leave a team, especially when I'm in a bit of form and I want to keep going in the IPL, trying to improve my game. I feel like I'm a big part of the boys and I'll miss them. It's a shame but there's obviously the World Cup which is very important as well."

San Francisco 49ers franchise kicker Robbie Gould says he has pulled the contract proposals he sent to the team and told the Niners that he will not negotiate or sign a long-term deal with them and wants to be traded.

Gould said Tuesday that if he reports at all, it will not be before the 49ers' Sept. 8 regular-season opener, making him a summer holdout.

Gould's agent, Brian Mackler, said: "At this time, we are unsure when or if he will report. It will not be prior to Sept 8, at the earliest, if at all."

The 36-year-old Gould indicated that he has gotten tired of 14 months of contract negotiations and wants to be closer to his wife and children in Chicago. After 11 years with the Bears, Gould was released. He spent 2016 with the New York Giants before signing a two-year deal with the Niners. Gould's wife and three boys under age 5 stayed in Chicago.

San Francisco placed the franchise tag on Gould in February. The Niners have been adamant that they want and expect Gould to be on the team this year.

"Robbie's going to be a part of us this coming year, I know that," Niners general manager John Lynch said Monday. "We would like it to be longer than that. We've made an attempt to make that happen. We haven't come to an agreement as of yet and we'll see where that goes, but Robbie will be a part of us this coming year. We're excited for that because he's very good at what he does, and he's also a big part of this team."

Gould said he was discouraged by the 49ers' decision to pursue free-agent kicker Stephen Gostkowski before he re-signed with New England, rather than getting a long-term deal done with him.

"The bottom line is, I'm unsure if I want to play there anymore," Gould told ESPN. "At this point, I have to do what's best for me and my family back home."

Now, with the draft about to kick off Thursday night, the 49ers have uncertainty after this season at the kicker position that looked to be solid.

The 49ers have only unproven kicker Jonathan Brown on the roster. He entered the NFL in 2016 after signing with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted rookie free agent and has never kicked in a regular-season NFL game. The Niners signed him to a two-year deal on March 8.

ESPN's Nick Wagoner contributed to this report.