Guardiola’s Manchester City take on their arch-rivals at Wembley on Saturday in a rematch of last year’s final.. ..Read Full Article
Off the back of vastly different Premier League campaigns, many are anticipating City to demolish United who are expected to sack Erik ten Hag soon afterwards.
Since the Dutchman arrived at Old Trafford, City have won four and lost one Manchester derby, though United did take a shock early lead in their last meeting back in March.
A Phil Foden masterclass in the second-half saw the Citizens complete a 3-1 comeback that day, but Guardiola is still very wary of the threat the Red Devils pose when they are at their best.
In his pre-match press conference on Friday, the City boss was asked whether United still had some of the ‘fear factor’ from the Sir Alex Ferguson era despite their terrible season.
He suggested that was the case, drawing attention to their front-four and singling out captain Fernandes for extra praise.
He said: ‘They have actions from brilliant players up front, [Alejandro] Garnacho, [Marcus] Rashford, [Rasmus] Hojlund and of course Bruno Fernandes.
‘When he has the ball, everything happens. Bruno’s influence is outstanding. Unbelievable.
‘Today and yesterday I watched a few games, the last games and I said, “This guy’s creativity is one of the best I’ve ever seen”.’
Fernandes recently won his third Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award, having scored 15 and assisted 12 in 47 appearances so far this campaign.
But while there is quality in attack, it is in defence where United have struggled of late, with their backline decimated by injuries.
Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Victor Lindelof and Tyrell Malacia are all out of the final clash, while Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane have only just recovered from fitness issues themselves.
‘If I lost a lot of central defenders I’d be in trouble, this is the reality,’ Guardiola added, sympathising with Ten Hag’s predicament.
‘The squad, I think, is really good. They have experience and everything. But the problem – when they are injured is you cannot use them. This is a big disadvantage.
‘You have to be fit, fit, fit otherwise you can’t use the players. They have a lot of problems and when that happens the manager suffers a lot.’
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