Pep Guardiola has promised to make changes to Manchester City’s line-up for their Carabao Cup quarter final match against Brentford at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.
The game comes just 72 hours after City secured a hard fought 3-0 win away at Crystal Palace, keeping pace with Arsenal in the Premier League title race.
With five league matches scheduled between December 20 and January 7, and the title race expected to heat up in the new year, Guardiola sees the Brentford game as an opportunity to rest key players and rotate the squad.
Guardiola also mentioned the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, which will see Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush leave to represent Algeria and Egypt, respectively.
“We’ve lost now Rayan and Omar,” Guardiola said. “We have some injuries, like John (Stones) and Jeremy (Doku). We will see. It’s one step to get to the semi-finals.
“Now we have less recovery, three days not four. The players that didn’t play recently are going to play.
“Some from the academy will play, because then we play West Ham (in the league on Saturday). I’m not saying it’s not a priority getting to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, but normally when we achieve it it’s when we have all the squad, no injuries, we can rotate the team.”
City won the Carabao Cup four years in a row under Guardiola from 2018 to 2021 but have not reached the final since.
Despite the busy schedule and challenges in the title race and Europe, Guardiola stressed he is focused on Wednesday’s game.
“If you’re one game away from a semi-final, if you can take it, take it,” he said. “You never know when it’s coming back to you.”
Guardiola last made changes for the Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen on November 25, which ended in a 2-0 defeat. That team featured young players like Abdukodir Khusanov, Rico Lewis, and Oscar Bobb, who have had limited Premier League starts and could feature again on Wednesday.
He attributed the defeat to a lack of experience on the pitch.
“In the Leverkusen game we missed a father figure on the pitch,” he said. “It’s not about the quality, it’s about being safe. Players that don’t have age for the process. Some players, it’s a process, they are young, not playing much.”
James Trafford, who Guardiola confirmed will definitely stay at the club in January, is expected to start in goal.
However, John Stones and Jeremy Doku will miss the match, with Doku’s injury expected to keep him out until January.
“Jeremy two or three weeks,” said Guardiola. “New year at Sunderland maybe.”
Leave a comment