Chelsea welcome Manchester City to Stamford Bridge on Sunday as the Blues look to improve their home form and build their momentum after dramatic win over Tottenham on Monday. It is the second game in a row where Mauricio Pochettino's side face the team sitting top of the league heading into the weekend.

The west London side have not beaten the Citizens since the Champions League final in 2021 and will hope former players Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling can play a role in earning three points. Pochettino faced the media ahead of the huge game, and provided updates on England selections, the latest on Christopher Nkunku, Romeo Lavia and more.

Read the full transcript below.

What are the challenges of facing Manchester City and what great memories do you have?

It all started when he [Pep] was in Barcelona, I was playing in Espanyol, that makes it special. And I think it is more special because he is one of the best or the best coach in the world. Always it is a challenge to play against him and the team that he is coach. We know really well the coaching staff is amazing also. Always it is a fantastic challenge and it is a joy to face a team, a club that is Pep. It's special because of that, no?

Too many memories, some good memories, some not so good. It's a pleasure and it is going to be really nice to face him in a game like Chelsea City on Sunday. It's going to be nice to be involved in the game, in the UK, in the Premier League and in a place like Stamford Bridge it is fantastic to play.

How has Cole Palmer settled so quickly?

I think he is a clever guy that adapted really quick. We are building the team and he took advantage and was so clever to see the situation and to show character and personality and then good performance. We are so happy with him, he needs to improve but special for him to play against his former teammates and club. We trust in him and he needs to improve but he has shown great quality.

Surprised Raheem Sterling was not in the England squad?

It's difficult to talk because I don't want to say anything against the decision because it's my colleague, Gareth, and for sure you need to respect his decision. Only what I can tell, is Raheem, not only Raheem, all of the England players are desperate to go with the national team because they love to be involved with the national team. Yes, sometimes they feel disappointed because they are not but the only way to change the situation is to work hard with your club and show that you deserve to be there and respect the decision of the people but they are all desperate to be involved with the national team.

They would really like to go but you know, it's not in your hands. It's in your hands to perform but not after the decision.

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Is there a worry that Raheem Sterling could be banned for throwing an object into the crowd?

I hear something to be honest but we cannot find anything. That is why we are quiet and calm and relaxed, hope it's nothing, I didn't see anything more.

Did Reece James make a smart decision to not travel with England and trying to recover?

I think, never it is the decision of the player. It is about assessing, the medical staff, the sport science and coaching staff, we always take decisions. Not the players. The players cannot assess themself. They can sometimes feel something.

He is desperate to go to the national team. I think it's good for the national team to have communication with the club, to take the best decision for the player, the national team and for Chelsea. Not the decisions of Reece Reece is desperate to go but always it is two parts, the national team and the club that take the best decision for him. After all of his problems and now he starts to feel fit again. I am happy he is going to be with us because it's two weeks to work again. For sure he can have the opportunity to join the national team in the future.

Four days on from that crazy game...

Why crazy? [jokes]

What have you taken from that performance?

I learned a lot from the Battle of the Bridge, remember seven years ago, I got a lot of criticism after the 2-2 because people said to me it was my fault because I don't teach the players how to behave, how to control their emotions.

What I can say is this type of game is about tactics, technique, players it's about form, the approach of the game and also it's to control the emotion. One thing I need to say that my players managed really well was the control of the emotion. We played 10 to 12 minutes, not in a good way, when we conceded the goal it was a big hit for us and we provided them the possibility to play. Then after this moment we started to control the game, then we learn, we create chances, goal got disalloweded, then we forced them to make a mistake.

We played 120 minutes and I think we deserved to win. Crazy but fair. All the decision of the VAR was fair. Tell me one decision that was not fair and even a few decisions more Tottenham was lucky. If we can, people can say something VAR was against us, not for us. When you watch the game again and try to learn from the game, Tottenham was very lucky because they finish with only two less than us.

Was it you keeping players calm?

Not from me. Coach always is difficult. When you feel the emotion on the pitch, it is difficult to control from outside. I don't say I wasn't guilty seven years ago. I learn, and I watch the game again and learned it was really important, the player show they keep calm in a tough moment and then forced them to make the mistake, then to win the game.

Are Manchester City the best team in Europe?

For me it is the best team, the best coaching staff, the best manager. We need to praise, we need to tell the truth, it is the best or one of the best organisations in the world. When you show the results it's because you are doing things top to bottom really well. We need to give credit to all of the organisation. It's going to be a challenge, we want to compete against them, I think we are going to try and compete our best, and what we want is three points, they are important for us.

Can Chelsea use being underdogs to their advantage?

Chelsea is never the feeling of the underdog. The feeling always is you are Chelsea. When you say Chelsea it is impossible, the history is there. I think we cannot go and say we are the victim on Sunday, we need to go and try to be a protagonist. Monday go to Tottenham and finish the game 4-1 ,showed we have character and talent to compete and fight with the best clubs in England. Now it's about bringing that confidence that will for sure will help us to be more competitive.

How important was Monday for Nicolas Jackson?

It's easy to say okay he scored three goals. It's a process. I will not change my view about him. He's still young, needs to improve. Scored three goals, okay, should have scored six, that is the idea. Of course this situation that happens when the result does not arrive, always it's about being responsible but the most important is to keep calm and relaxed and he is a talented played and is going to improve with time. Nights like Monday help him not to be too much nervous and approach a game in a different way.

How is Christopher Nkunku doing?

We had some conversation and he said to me, 'Coach, I want to be ready for after international break, Newcastle'. I asked him yesterday and he said 'hmmm', and I said 'you are liar'. 'No, no I am ready'.

It is close and he is doing really well. We are so happy with him, the way he is recovering, he is very professional. Romeo Lavia is also close. They trained today on the pitch. Hope that next week will be involved with the team and see after. Day by day see when it is possible to play with the team.

What was Guardiola like as a player? See he would be a coach?

Like a coach, how he was. So clever. The type of player Barcelona loved to have, holding midfielder, very clever.

It was lucky because he wanted to be a sporting director in Barcelona and then he lose the election. Sporting director or coach for sure.

Is Manchester City's domination good or bad for football in this country?

It's the reality. I don't know if it's good or bad. They have shown they dominate English football because they deserve. I don't know if it's good or bad. It's the reality, they are top. They are the team you want to beat, you want to challenge because they are showing great quality.

Not good to have one team wining every year though?

All of the other teams try to compete with them. They are doing things really well, are ahead of us. For sure it is going to be our objective in the future to be ahead of everyone and try to dominate the Premier League. Now we need to be clever, be smart and try to challenge thhem and try to be in the place they are now. We are all fighting to take their place.

Where are you with VAR? More Mikel Arteta or Angeo Postecoglou?

It is difficult to judge for me because I don't know where Ange is, left or right or in the middle and Mikel is talking about one action but maybe different people have different opinions and it is not obvious. I think Monday was obvious with all of the decisions. If we go back and listen to Klopp after Tottenham-Liverpool, after they disallowed a goal that was legal, it is normal to complain. Maybe it's normal to complain when Arteta believes the ball is out or fouled. It's difficult, the most important thing is we have to be clear, we cannot go back with the VAR. VAR is here and we now need to try to use in the best way because the technology is there. We cannot go back. The moment we implement the VAR was the moment to talk and say be careful and the consquence in the next few years is going to be really tough. I accept that MIkel or Klopp can complain or Ange can say another thing or Pep, or us. Always we need to justify to ourselves and defend our club and our interests. It is normal. We are always going to put the way that is for us but when it is against us, maybe not criticise but say it wasn't fair.