'Grumpy' Guardiola: Man City should spend more money!

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City's rivals are the ones who should be put under scrutiny for their transfer expenditure.

Man City, who are second in the Premier League, six points back from leaders Arsenal, spent big to sign Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi last month.

Monday saw City loan Kalvin Phillips to Sheffield United. Their January business came after a busy summer in which Guardiola overhauled his squad.

While Guehi has slotted straight into an injury-ravaged defence, Semenyo has made an instant impact, scoring four goals in five City appearances. He is just the second player to find the net in as many as four of his first five appearances for the Citizens as a Premier League club (from 1992-93), after Emmanuel Adebayor in 2009.

One of Semenyo's goals came against holders Newcastle United in the EFL Cup, with City taking a 2-0 lead into the second leg of their semi-final tie, which takes place at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.

And ahead of that clash, Guardiola claimed City should not be the only club judged on high transfer spend, as he claimed they are seventh for net spend in the Premier League over the past four-and-a-half years.

"I'm a little bit sad and upset, because, in net spend in the last five years, we are seventh in the Premier League," Guardiola said with a smile.

"I want to be the first. I don't understand why the club doesn't spend more money. I am a little bit grumpy with them!

"But like we won in the past because we spent a lot, now six teams have to win the Premier Leagues, Champions Leagues and FA Cups because they spend more in the last five years.

"These are facts. It's not an opinion. Good luck to the six teams in front of us for net spend for the last five years. Let's go. I'm waiting. That's a nice quote, eh?"

While City were busy in the market, Newcastle kept their powder dry.

"Financially, it wasn't possible. There may have been players we were looking at for the future," explained Eddie Howe. "Younger players coming in who we could develop, but ultimately nothing that would affect the first team.

"We have only been active in one transfer window out of the last four or five, so we are under financial restrictions, we have to be smart, and we have decided to wait until the summer.

"The summer window is a lot easier to recruit in, there are a lot more players available and potentially better value for money. We can't sign players that don't exist and we have to work under the conditions we are in."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Manchester City – Rayan Cherki

Cherki has scored in all three of his EFL Cup games so far.

The last City player to score in four consecutive appearances in the competition was Yaya Toure. The Ivorian also netted in his first four matches in the EFL Cup, between September 2013 and September 2014.

Newcastle United – Anthony Gordon

Gordon opened the scoring for Newcastle against Liverpool last weekend, though the Magpies ultimately lost 4-1 at Anfield.

Despite playing fewer than half the minutes available in the competition this season (144/360), no Newcastle player has created more chances in the EFL Cup this season than Gordon (six), while only Bruno Guimaraes (11) and Joelinton (nine) have had more shots than the forward (six).

MATCH PREDICTION: MANCHESTER CITY WIN

City have won 10 of their last 11 home games in the EFL Cup, with the exception being a 1-0 semi-final second leg loss to Manchester United in 2019-20, having won the first leg by two goals.

Newcastle are looking to avoid becoming just the third EFL Cup holders to be eliminated at the semi-final stage, after Tottenham in 1971-72 and Blackburn in 2002-03.

To avoid that fate, Newcastle will have to become just the second team to overturn a 2+ goal deficit from the first leg to reach the EFL Cup final after Aston Villa against Tranmere in 1993-94 (1-3 away, 3-1 home, won on penalties).

City have won 17 of their last 18 home games against Newcastle in all competitions, including each of the last 11 in a row since a 2-0 loss in the EFL Cup fourth round in 2014-15.

Should City progress, they would be the fourth team to reach the EFL Cup final 10 times, after Liverpool (15), Chelsea (10, not including this season) and Man Utd (10).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Man City – 56.8%

Draw – 22.4%

Newcastle – 20.8%