By Tim Stannard

1) Pep’s double threat to world dominance

 If you can’t stop ‘em, then chop ‘em down. Or simply offer up too many games for Man City’s wafer thin, thrown-together-for-peanuts squad to cope.

 Those are the double-barreled accusations that Pep Guardiola has been making of late as his Manchester City side continues to blast its way through the Premier League cannon fodder. The Spaniard has been highly critical of both the traditionally packed holiday calendar in the Premier League - which saw WBA playing Swansea City, Everton and Arsenal in just the single day - and also referees overlooking his footballers being hacked down by frustrated opposition players.  

To this end, City are without both Gabriel Jesus – ligament damage from overwork – and Kevin de Bruyne – poleaxed by Palace – for Tuesday’s visit of Watford to the Etihad. And Pep is not a happy Premier League-leading bunny. "If you tell me that technically, physically it's good for the players: no, it's a disaster," sighed the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss.

A victory would leave Manchester City 15 points ahead of a trailing Manchester United, whose manager has spent the last 24 hours complaining, attention-deflecting, moaning and making conspiracies. All very 2017. Catch the best of all today’s Premier League action on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT.

2) Klopp amused by Coutinho Nike kerfuffle

 Well, at least Jurgen Klopp found the whole affair funny. That affair being the most modern of transfer stories – the possible marketing, social media slip-up of a sponsor leaking a footballer’s big money move. Philippe Coutinho, Nike and Barcelona in this case.

The Liverpool coach was reflecting on the meaning of life, the universe and everything and admitted that “I couldn’t be less interested in anything in the world.” However, the rest of the world could and the word on the street is that the Brazilian will never put on the red shirt of Liverpool again, with the footballer out of the recent Burnley game and set to miss Friday’s FA Cup clash with Everton ahead of a Camp Nou switch.

3) Kepa the keeper comes closer

Although the goalkeeping position does not seem to be the major problem for Real Madrid these days – a functioning, non-injured forward pretty much is – the Spanish press has the Spanish youngster, Kepa, making a move to the Santiago Bernabeu this winter window, even through the footballer will be out of contract in the summer.

The goalkeeper trained alone on Tuesday, ostensibly because the player is recovering from a foot injury, but…you know, that’s no fun. Real Madrid return to our beIN SPORTS screens for the first time after THAT Clasico defeat in a Copa del Rey clash against Numancia on Thursday live at 2:55PM ET / 11:55AM PT, preceded by Barcelona’s visit to Celta Vigo.

Tune into the XTRA from 7PM ET / 4PM PT for the latest hot gossip with the daily transfer tracker.

4) Hips don’t lie for struggling Andy Murray

 Over for some tennis and the future of Andy Murray in the game is apparently hanging in the balance. The Scotsman was a late withdrawal from the Brisbane Open and has revealed through his Instagram account that he is considering hip surgery to deal with a longstanding problem. “It’s quite demoralizing when you get on the court it’s not at the level you need it to be to compete at this level,” wrote Murray.

Extensive coverage of the ATP tournament in Qatar continues live on beIN SPORTS where the first round of action continues. And make sure to tune in exclusive coverage of the WTA tournament in Brisbane where the best of women’s tennis can be found. Garbine Muguruza was the main victim of Monday night’s play Down Under. Coverage starts at 8PM ET / 5PM PT.

WHAT IS SPORTS BURST?

The life philosophy of Sports Burst is that if you are not upsetting someone, then you are not trying hard enough. Sports Burst is a daily trawl and troll through the morning's sports news to bring you fact-nuggets to make you both smile and swear. Hopefully at the same time.