Tottenham Hotspur have a tricky task on their hands as they take on Man City on Wednesday night, but Spurs will be fancying their chances as Pep Guardiola insists the cup matters less than other competitions.
Pep Guardiola on Man City vs Spurs
Supporters were not best pleased when Spurs drew Pep Guardiola and Man City in the Carabao Cup, after only edging past Coventry City in the previous round thanks to late goals from Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson.
The Citizens caused misery for Spurs last season, defeating them twice at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in both the league and the FA Cup, ending their record of having never scored a goal at the ground.
But Tottenham’s chances of making it to the quarter-final looked to have increased when Pep Guardiola revealed that the League Cup is not a priority for his side, and that he will not waste energy on the competition, meaning he could field a second time (MEN).
Pep Guardiola’s latest comments on Spurs match
Guardiola has since revealed that first-team players may be involved in City’s squad if they are not injury doubts, but he has doubled down on his stance that the Carabao Cup is not his side’s main focus.
Speaking in his post-match press conference after his side’s 1-0 win against Southampton, he said:
“I would love to have everyone [fit], it’s not the position we’re in, we are few people and we’re going to do what we have to do.
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“I’m going to think about Spurs, maybe some players from the Academy. We will see tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, we have four days not three.
“Of course, we will go there to compete but the main target is Bournemouth, Sporting and Brighton before the international break, this is the focus.
“We will take a decision and if the players are fine we will play them against Spurs but if there are any doubts I’m not going to take a risk against Spurs, that’s for sure.”
Man City injury problems mean more youngsters will play
Manchester City have been plagued by injuries this season, which has included Rodri being ruled out for the rest of the season. Key players such as Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku are all likely to miss the midweek clash, while it remains unknown when Kevin De Bruyne will return from the sidelines (Standard).
With a busy fixture list coming up for City, Guardiola will look to his sides’ academy players, many of whom represented the first team on their pre-season tour in the United States, when the champions of England faced European heavyweights Barcelona, AC Milan, Chelsea and Celtic (Man City).
Midfielders Nico O’Reilly and James McAtee have both played in the Carabao Cup this season, in City’s 2-1 win over Watford in the previous round, and are likely to feature in the starting lineup. McAtee will be relishing the challenge, having scored on Europe’s biggest stage as Man City thrashed Slovan Bratislava at the start of the month.
While City’s starting XI will probably still have plenty of first-team players, there could be a host of youngsters in the squad, likely including Jacob Wright and Farid Alfa-Ruprecht, who both have a number of goals and assists in Premier League 2 this season and impressive young centre-backs, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey and Kaden Braithwaite, may also make the squad.
Man City predicted starting XI vs Spurs
GK Stefan Ortega
RB Rico Lewis
CB John Stones
CB Manuel Akanji
LB Nathan Ake
CM Nico O’Reilly
CM Ilkay Gundogan
RW Savinho
CAM James McAtee
LW Matheus Nunes