Bristol City vs Manchester City. Carabao Cup Semi-Final.
Ashton GateAttendance26,003.
3-5
Watch live on Sky Sports Football from 7.30pm on Tuesday
Tuesday 23 January 2018 19:51, UK
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has hinted at changes ahead of his team's trip to take on Bristol City in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday night, but the Catalan insists his focus is on victory at Ashton Gate.
Guardiola - whose team hold a 2-1 lead from the first leg - wants to field a strong side to secure a place in next month's final at Wembley, but is conscious of the demands on his players as he juggles the challenges of four competitions.
"Of course we are going to try to see the best team as possible but then Bernardo Silva, (Ilkay) Gundogan, (Eliaquim) Mangala will not be able to play and that will not be fair. I will say we are going to go there and try and win the game and go to the final," Guardiola said.
Second-choice goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who has featured in all domestic cup matches this season and starred in two penalty shootout victories, is another likely to feature.
Yaya Toure, Brahim Diaz and Oleksandr Zinchenko may also play.
Zinchenko, a 21-year-old attacking midfielder, has made six appearances this season, mostly as a left-back through necessity, and impressed on his first Premier League start against Newcastle United on Saturday.
City's 3-1 victory over Newcastle saw them back to winning ways after defeat at Liverpool and maintain a 12-point lead at the top of the table.
Guardiola did not immediately turn his attention to Bristol City as he carried out media duties, but said that would soon change as he enjoyed his post-match drink.
He said: "Normally I don't think about what we are going to do next (straight away). After my glass of red wine, a little bit of alcohol in my body, my focus is much better. After we are going to decide what is the best."
Meanwhile, Lee Johnson admits victory over City would be one of the biggest results in the club's history.
Johnson's side knocked Manchester United out in the quarter-final at Ashton Gate and the club are also chasing promotion to the Premier League, but the Bristol City boss conceded beating Guardiola's side would be huge.
"For me, and the club, the Premier League is the dream," Johnson said.
"But saying that as far as the team is concerned, for this team to beat Man City and the players they have got, it would rank as one of the best results in the club's history.
"They'll go down in folklore. Some have already from the Manchester United game. We're going to enjoy it.
"We'll keep going, we don't want to be brave losers. We want to compete and compete to win. The only way we will fulfil our ambitions is to get the results on the pitch.
"This is where the heroes are born."
Bristol City are fifth in the Sky Bet Championship, but are winless in their last six matches, including the last-gasp defeat at the Etihad.
Bobby Reid's penalty was cancelled out by Kevin De Bruyne, before Sergio Aguero struck in stoppage time.
They ended a five-game losing run with a 0-0 draw at Derby on Friday which left them five points behind the top two.
Bristol City duo Frank Fielding and Nathan Baker will both have late fitness tests, with goalkeeper Fielding suffering with a groin injury, while defender Baker has an ankle problem.
City are still without Fabian Delph for the trip to Ashton Gate. The England midfielder, who has successfully switched to left-back this season, has a knee problem. Zinchenko or Danilo will play in the position.
However, captain Vincent Kompany (calf) remains doubtful, while striker Gabriel Jesus (knee), midfielder Phil Foden (ankle) and defender Benjamin Mendy (knee) are all unavailable.
With Manchester City getting that late winner, you could see the frustration on the Bristol City players' faces because they gave everything and City were average.
Now, after doing so well packing men behind the ball and playing on the counter-attack, they've got to open up.
They might think they'll get more of the ball at home but they won't. If they want to try the Liverpool tactics and really press them, then I think Man City will pick them off.
I think Pep will play a strong side as he can make a couple of changes against Cardiff so I can only see a comfortable Man City win.
Charlie predicts: 4-1 and De Bruyne to score first - 55/1 with Sky Bet
Betting
Bristol City are up against odds of 11/1 with Sky Bet to win on Tuesday night and 14/1 to reach Wembley, with Manchester City just 1/4 make the Carabao Cup final with another victory. Sergio Aguero heads the first goalscorer market at 9/4 and is enhanced from 9/4 to 11/4 to bag a brace in Sky Bet's Price Boosts, while the Robins' main threat Bobby Reid is available at 16/1 to break the deadlock.
