Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City players will now face a horror schedule of four consecutive away matches in late October and early November.
That comes after the Carabao Cup and Manchester City finalised the fixture scheduling of the fourth round tie against Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, following Pep Guardiola’s progression in the tournament.
The club were issued with a third round tie at home to Championship side Watford that caused plenty of controversy within the club over its allocation to a Tuesday night slot – just 49 hours after the conclusion of Manchester City’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal in the Premier League.
Goals from Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes were enough to get Manchester City over the line in a heavily changed selection issued by Guardiola, despite a late scare from Tom Ince to pile on some pressure in the closing exchanges.
Now with Premier League and UEFA Champions League fixtures also coming thick and fast, a further contest has been added into Manchester City’s October scheduling in what makes up the first of four successive away fixtures.
As confirmed by Manchester City this week, the club’s Carabao Cup fourth round tie against Tottenham Hotspur in North London will be played on Wednesday 30 October, with kick-off scheduled for 20:15 (UK), broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event for viewers in the UK.
As such, Manchester City will follow up their meeting with Ange Postecoglou’s side by returning south the following Saturday for a 3PM meeting against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League.
Then it will be UEFA Champions League action once again for the club as they take on Sporting CP in Lisbon on the following Tuesday night, before returning to the south coast of England for a clash against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday 9 November.
Manager Pep Guardiola has already made it clear that he will not be prioritising the Carabao Cup with his best selection, stating during a recent press conference that he has no intention of ‘wasting energy’ on the League Cup.
“In the next round, we’re going to play the players that play less minutes or the second team. We are not going to waste energy for this competition, for sure,” said Guardiola.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but if I have a lot, a lot of injuries we’re going to play the second team. And if we have players and the whole squad is ready, it’s a good competition to take rhythm. That’s for sure.”