Pep confirms six more players are back in the Manchester City squad ahead of the Carabao Cup clash on Thursday. Man City had a total of 16 players at this World Cup in Qatar. Only Barcelona had more players called up (17).
Meanwhile, Liverpool only saw there seven players called up for the World Cup squads. This allowed the German mastermind to work with the majority of his squad throughout mid-season.
Pep looks optimistic ahead of Carabao Cup
In his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, Guardiola confirmed that six more players had reported back for training that morning but it seems very unlikely they will feature in midweek.
Pep said,
“ Step by step, the people come back. Today come six players for the first time”. He also said, “ I am happy that they are back, in general they played really well, all of them, and they lived, I am pretty sure, an incredible experience. The World Cup is a unique experience.”
“Let them try to come back as soon as possible, to work good for the team, for themselves.”
Before Wednesday, there were at least 9 players who had made it to the last 16 of the WC and thus, were doubtful to play in the EFL Cup.
Namely, Ederson, Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Kalvin Phillips, Phil, Foden, and Jack Grealish are yet to train.
Guardiola went on to say that Laporte was now available along with Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri, Nathan Ake, and Manuel Akanji.
Clash of Titans
On the other hand, Klopp’s Liverpool are gearing up for the encounter against the Sky Blues. The Red’s coach expects them to perform on the big stages. The Merseyside giants are currently sitting in the sixth position on the table. Their start of the 22-23 season is not as good as expected.
After this mid-season break, Klopp is hoping for a positive response from his team. The last time they faced City was in Premier League. Liverpool won that match 1-0. Thanks to Mo Salah’s brilliance. This time fans will be expecting the same from the Egyptian.
There is also a possibility of Van Dijk’s absence in this crucial encounter. Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders also claimed
“ I think it’s never a boring game against them. It was never a boring game, both teams will put on a great show, that’s for sure.”
