Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was left delighted after their 4-1 defeat of Aston Villa.

Phil Foden hit a hat-trick as City cruised to victory.

Guardiola said: "If we win I am happy. We lost some easy balls and they are really good in attack. But today we were better."

On Foden, he said: "His work ethic is amazing. He plays in central positions and has an incredible sense of goal - he has goals in his veins and we have to use him.

"I think it was a mistake from Villa, not over the wall but it was important to score that before half time.

"After the third, they had one or two chances on transition, we had a lot of chances. Really pleased for performance, three days, three days we didn't have time to prepare the game."

On Arsenal and Liverpool being favourites for the title ahead of City, Guardiola added: "They have more points than us so they are favourites but it's important to us to qualify for Champions League next season. We are close to that, qualification is important for many reasons. Beating Aston Villa is a big step."