Pep Guardiola makes a big admission ahead of Manchester City’s Carabao Cup clash against Tottenham that may come as a big boost for the Lilywhites.
Tottenham desperate to bounce back
There is a feeling of doom and gloom around Spurs following the loss at Crystal Palace on Sunday and Ange Postecoglou will be desperate to see a response from his players against Manchester City.
Being knocked out of the Carabao Cup would severely dent the North London club’s chances of winning a trophy this season and would pile even more pressure on the Australian.
However, Postecoglou might have just received some good news from his counterpart ahead of the big game.
Pep Guardiola’s confession
Guardiola has said ahead of City’s trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium that he will not be risking any of the players who are not 100 per cent fit. The Spaniard remarked that he might give the academy stars a chance to impress.
He said (via The Standard): “We are few, few people. I don’t know if I’m going to think against Spurs maybe some players from the academy. We will see. If the players are fine they are going to play against Spurs but if they have doubts I’m not going to take a risk, that’s for sure.”
The Standard suggests that Guardiola’s statement might rule out Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish or Jeremy Doku from Wednesday’s game as none of them are fully fit at the moment.
What side will Ange Postecoglou name?
It will be interesting to see what kind of side Postecoglou names for the clash and whether he is tempted to give some of the backups, such as Radu Dragusin, Djed Spence, Archie Gray, Richarlison and Timo Werner, some game time.
Given the pressure on the 59-year-old at the moment, one can argue that this is a must-win game, and he might thus be tempted to name a fairly strong lineup.