Newcastle United take on Manchester City in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final.
The Cityzens go into Wednesday night’s clash with home advantage and a two-goal cushion from the first encounter at St James’ Park last month. Many have written off the Magpies’ chances, including much of their fanbase, but Guardiola is not so certain. He has warned what to expect from head coach Howe and United, with a place at Wembley at stake for both sides.
Guardiola said: “We have the chance to make a fifth final in 10 years.
“I know perfectly Eddie Howe and the times we played against Newcastle and the pride they have. A Champions League team and we have to be prepared.
“See how the players recovered from a tough game at Spurs and play our game for our people and fans and try to reach Wembley in March.”
Manchester City injury news ahead of Newcastle United Carabao Cup semi final
While the Magpies have some injury issues in midfield and at the back, City are not without their own struggles, albeit with a much deeper squad.
Guardiola says the club’s medical staff will monitor the fitness of Rayan Cherki, while new signing Marc Guehi is ineligible, having signed after the first leg.
Cherki came off in the second half of Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League draw with Tottenham Hotspur. He could join fellow creator Jeremy Doku on the sidelines, with the winger out of the Etihad encounter.
However, Ruben Dias is likely to return after a month out.
“Rayan had a knock and we will see today how he feels,” said Guardiola.
“Ruben started to train yesterday but Jeremy not [ready] yet.”
Josko Gvardiol, John Stones, Savinho and Mateo Kovacic all remain unavailable.
Newcastle United limited midfield option v Manchester City
Newcastle have suffered a number of defensive injuries in the past month and are now dealing with some key midfield injuries.
Joelinton is out for the next few weeks while Bruno Guimaraes will miss a fourth game due to an ankle injury, though it is hoped he’ll be back for Saturday’s match at home to Brentford.
United, however, will be boosted by the return of Sven Botman, which could see Howe revert to five at the back he deployed in Paris.
Howe said: “Yeah, Bruno's doing well. I don't think he'll make this game, but there's a chance for the weekend. Sven Botman’s okay. Lewis, I'm not sure he'll make this game either.”
Eddie Howe admits Newcastle United ‘risk’ & drops summer transfer window hint
Newcastle head into the second half of the campaign still competing in all four competitions they entered at the start of the campaign.
With injuries becoming a regular occurrence and the fixture list becoming even more demanding, Howe admits the club have taken a risk by not spending in January but insists they had “no other option”.
“A risk? Yes but we were left with no other option really,” said Howe. “Every decision we make has a long-term implication, so there's no guarantee even signing someone with the funds that we had available would help us short-term anyway. So it is what it is.
“We've been used to working in these conditions now for a while. I think we've only been active in one transfer window out of the last four or five, so I think we're under financial restrictions. We have to be really, really smart and we've decided to wait till the summer.
“I think the decision is the summer window is a lot easier to recruit. There's a lot more players available, potentially better value for money, but also the fact that we had a very limited amount of money to use in this window and were the right players available that could help us in the very short term, which we have a need.
“Those options weren't there for us, so we can't sign players that don't exist. We have to work under the conditions that we're in.”
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