Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has admitted he could field a mixed line-up in Wednesday’s League Cup clash against Newcastle United.
The reigning Premier League holders head to St James’ Park to take on the Magpies amid a perfect start to their title defence, having won all six league games at the beginning of the new campaign.
However, the Cityzens have experienced an injury-hit start to 2023/24, with Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and John Stones succumbing to fitness problems.
Rodri will miss tomorrow’s game on Tyneside due to suspension, with Jack Grealish and Mateo Kovacic set to return to the fold after recovering from minor injuries.
With the fixture schedule growing thicker due to Man City’s involvement in numerous competitions, Guardiola must pay keen attention to squad rotation to avoid further problems down the line.
Speaking to the press in the build-up to tomorrow’s game against Newcastle, the Spanish manager confessed he could make various changes to the squad that beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at the weekend.
“At the beginning of the season there are always six players who don’t play regularly and the Carabao Cup is perfect,” Guardiola said, as relayed by the Daily Mail.
“That’s when everyone is fit. But now it’s an exceptional situation, we have a lot of players injured or with a lot of minutes. They have to rest. Wolves, Leipzig and Arsenal are much more important.
“We’ll travel there to win the game but I have to consider a lot of effort in this period and they’re going to get injured again otherwise we’ll be in trouble.”
Man City and Newcastle squared off in the Premier League earlier this season. Julian Alvarez’s first-half masterpiece inspired Guardiola’s troops to a 1-0 win at the Etihad Stadium in August.
But things could pan out differently on Wednesday, with Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias among first-team stars expected to be handed a much-needed rest.
Newcastle should take the field in high spirits following a historic 8-0 victory over newcomers Sheffield United on Sunday.
