Ange Postecoglou does not doubt that Manchester City will have a strong team out on the park this evening, no matter who Pep Guardiola decides to play.
Pep Guardiola has hinted at rotation
Man City travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this evening for the Carabao Cup round of 16 clash, with the winner of the clash being just two games away from a big Wembley final.
The game is undoubtedly the tie of the round but based on the comments from the two managers, we might see both sides name a weakened side.
Guardiola made it clear ahead of the clash that he will not risk any of the players who are not 100 per cent fit and added that some academy players will be handed a chance (The Standard).
Ange Postecoglou is not under any illusions
However, Postecoglou has no doubts that irrespective of who starts for the Premier League champions, they will be an extremely hard side to beat.
He pointed out that Guardiola has a formidable record in the Carabao Cup despite rotating his squad.
When asked about City potentially playing kids in today’s game, the Tottenham boss told Football.London: “I don’t know but if you look at Pep in this comp he has always pretty heavily rotated, and they won in four in a row didn’t they?
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“He’s not playing his kids. No disrespect to Pep’s kids. These are good players. They’re at City. They have a pretty good programme. Pedro [Porro] was part of that so… if you’re part of the City infrastructure you’re a good player.
“We’re expecting a tough game. But irrespective of who they put out we want to win. We want to stay in this competition and put in a strong performance.”
Postecoglou making himself an easy target for criticism
Postecoglou himself has made it clear that he will rotate his troops, much like he has done for all the midweek games so far this season.
That might not go down well with a lot of Tottenham fans, who see this clash as potentially being bigger than the upcoming Premier League game against Aston Villa.
If the Australian does name a weakened side, he would be making himself a target for intense criticism if his side were to be knocked out this evening.