Pep Guardiola has told his Manchester City players to switch off and enjoy the rest at the start of this week, before returning for what he hopes will be a demanding nine weeks.
Pep Guardiola said: “They need to rest. I was on holiday in my hometown in Catalonia [during the international break] but they were in national team and after that if you continue Champions League or FA Cup you have a lot of games, so stay away and then three days to prepare Southampton, Bayern Munich, Leicester, Sheffield United, Arsenal.”
City are still timing their run well. The evisceration of Liverpool was their seventh successive win in all competitions, the longest streak of the season. Four successive Premier League wins is also a season-high. There have been 17 goals scored in the last three games and Guardiola has put City’s form down to the fact there is now jeopardy in their season. A defeat in any competition could prove to be terminal.
Pep Guardiola said: “We are in the moment that we are in before where I feel if we lose a game we lose a competition. The biggest rival we have in my career is Liverpool. We live that before and know it and that is a good way to play. I don’t expect Arsenal is going to drop a lot of points.”
City should also be lifted this week by the return of Erling Haaland. The Norwegian was an animated presence in a hospitality box on Saturday but Guardiola is confident he will be back in the squad for the trip to St Mary’s.
Pep Guardiola said: “He is getting better. [On Friday] he felt a little bit better compared to the previous two. Seven days to Southampton hopefully can still help us like all season.”
