Guardiola says strength in depth can see City fight on four fronts
PEP Guardiola insists Manchester City have the strength and quality needed to keep pushing Liverpool in the Premier League even as they continue to fight on four fronts.
City will face Burton in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup tonight, days after thrashing Rotherham 7-0 to advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
But Liverpool, who sit four points clear of City, have only the league and Champions League to worry about after a much-weakened side were knocked out of the FA Cup by Wolves on Monday.
“If everyone is fit and not injured, we can cope with it,” Guardiola said. “The problem is if you have 10 injured players, it’s almost impossible. When everyone is fit, it’s better. Without that competition, if we had just one competition to play in, I could play with the same 11 or same 12.
“Now everyone is involved. the players don’t know who will play against Burton. Then after four days we have another final at home to Wolves.”
And though his side could face as many as 65 fixtures if they went all the way in the cups, Guardiola said he would rather be fighting on multiple fronts as he believes momentum can apply across all competitions.
“I prefer it, definitely,” he said. “When Wigan put us out of the FA Cup last season I was sad. But since I arrived, the first
“I take the cups seriously. Against Rotherham, for example, we played with nine players who didn’t play against Liverpool and the nine were a good selection. It was perfect for the rhythm for Kevin [De Bruyne], [Ilkay] Gundogan, Nico [Otamendi], Kyle [Walker] – perfect.”
Tonight’s game will be an unfamiliar challenge for Guardiola, who admitted he had never seen any footage of Burton in action until Tuesday morning.
“Tomorrow is different, it is two games in the cup. When you arrive in the semi-final stage first you have to respect the opponents and try to know them because we don’t know them.
“Yesterday I never watched one game, today I watched one and this afternoon I will see another with my analyst. See exactly what they are and prepare to get a good result. Try to get to Wembley.”