Pep Guardiola: 'Stopping Wilfried Zaha more important than personal record'

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has claimed that he is more worried about keeping Wilfried Zaha at bay than breaking his own successive win record.

The Citizens are chasing a 19th straight Premier League victory as they take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on New Year's Eve.

City's winning streak is already a record in English league football but one more victory would see City equal the 19 in a row Guardiola achieved while in charge of Bayern Munich in 2013-14.

However, the Spaniard played down the possible achievement, telling reporters: "I'm not here to comment on the record. It's simple to say, 'Yes or no, do we break it or not?'. That is not what counts.

"What counts is what we have to do against Palace, and what we have to do against their four amazing strikers.

"I'm really impressed with what Zaha is able to do. When he was not on the pitch, Crystal Palace were not able to win. In the first nine games, Zaha was not there, but when he came back in, the team changed.

"He is a guy who can turn the game. He's won a lot of points by himself. That's what I have to be concerned about."

City, whose victory at Newcastle United on Wednesday opened up a 15-point lead at the top of the table, claimed a 5-0 win over Palace in September.