Phil Foden out to break personal Man City scoring record in Brentford clash as Pep Guardiola reacts to England omission

Pep Guardiola has backed Phil Foden to return to the England squad ahead of the 2026 World Cup if he can build on his current form at club level for Manchester City.

Foden endured a frustrating 2024-25 campaign and experienced a disrupted start to the new season, with a niggling ankle issue keeping him sidelined for Premier League games against Wolves and Brighton.

The 25-year-old playmaker has made a notable impression since returning to the Citizens side, contributing to four goals (two goals, two assists) in his last six appearances across all competitions.

Foden scored the opening goal in Man City’s 3-0 derby triumph over Man United in the Premier League and registered an assist in a 2-0 Champions League win against Napoli four days later, before recording a goal and an assist in a man-of-the-match display against Huddersfield Town in the EFL Cup.

Despite Foden’s upturn in form, the Man City star has been omitted from Thomas Tuchel’s 24-man England squad ahead of an international friendly with Wales and a World Cup qualifier against Latvia later this month.

Foden has now been left out of three consecutive England squads, with Tuchel preferring to stick with his current crop of players despite acknowledging that Man City’s No.47 “is back to influencing games”.

"No, there is no problem between me and Phil Foden”, Tuchel told reporters following his Three Lions squad announcement on Friday.

"Phil is back to influencing games, deciding games for Manchester City...It’s only three weeks now since the last camp and the last win [against Serbia], the last performance, so the question was, why not bring the same group in? Because they set the standards and now it is about creating habits out of it.”

Guardiola: ‘Foden will be back for England’

Responding to Foden’s latest omission by Tuchel, Guardiola said: "Thomas knows what he needs for the national team a thousand times, million times, trillion times better than me.

"All I can say is if Phil is playing like he's playing, he will be back."

"I am happy when players go to the national team but I am happier when they come back healthier,” Guardiola added.

Foden eyeing up more goals against Brentford in Premier League

Foden is expected to start for Man City in Sunday’s Premier League clash against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium where the playmaker has had plenty of success in recent seasons.

Indeed, Foden has scored six goals in his last four away encounters with Brentford, netting twice in a 2-2 draw last season, while he has scored seven goals in as many games in total against the Bees.

Only against Brighton (eight) has Foden score more Premier League goals against a single opponent, and Brentford will soon sit top of this list if the Englishman nets at least two goals on Sunday.

“He’s one of the best players we have in small spaces in the final third, by far,” Guardiola told reporters. “In terms of assists and in terms of goals in small spaces, how he times an attack and the desire to score a goal is the best we have.”

Guardiola has also confirmed that Man City have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the trip to Brentford, with Rodri fit and available for selection once again after returning to the starting lineup for Wednesday’s 2-2 Champions League draw with Monaco.