Guardiola hits out at Man City fixture chaos after seeing Man Utd request denied

Pep Guardiola has taken a swipe at the scheduling of Manchester City's Carabao Cup tie against Watford, which comes 48 hours after they host title rivals Arsenal in the Premier League.

City play Arsenal on September 22 in a key game in the title race, then host Watford two days later in the third round of the EFL Cup.

City cannot play that tie a day later, because Manchester United are playing FC Twente in the Europa League, with Greater Manchester Police unable to cover both matches on the same date.

“They gave us an alternative [to play at Watford on Wednesday], to have more days,” said Guardiola, whose side are facing four games in 10 days, starting with today's fixture.

“But we have a Saturday game in Newcastle and we prioritise, of course, to have more rest for Newcastle.

“So we’re going to play on Tuesday, because we couldn't play on Wednesday, when it should be, because United play in the Europa League and the police won’t accept it.

“It's going to happen more and more. It's impossible to fix all the schedules and calendars. People say that players and managers, with the money, shouldn't complain, but it's not about that, it’s about their health.

“We will do our job anyway - with this salary or less salary - because we love to do it, but we play Arsenal on Sunday - not an easy game I would say - and two days later we have to do it against Watford.

“I’m not a specialist on the calendars or fixtures and the competitions, but we’re not going to change, the meetings are useless. If they decide they’re going to do it, they’re going to do it.

“We will do it on Tuesday, hopefully we can select two teams and be fit and have no injuries but everyone knows the schedule will be tight this season.”

Before that, though, Guardiola is taking nothing for granted against the last team to beat City at home in the Premier League.

Brentford inflicted City's last home league defeat, a 2-1 victory over Guardiola's side at the Etihad in November 2022, the last game before the break for the World Cup in Qatar.

Since then, City have played 31 league games at home, winning 25 and drawing six, a remarkable run which underlines the domestic supremacy of the four-in-a-row Premier League winners.

Even though Brentford can no longer call upon the services of Ivan Toney, who scored both goals in that victory nearly two years ago, Guardiola is expecting a tough test against the Bees.

“It means how good we've done,” said Guardiola. “Two years without losing a game at home. That's good.

“I don't remember an easy game against a Thomas Frank team, a person who I admire. Since they were promoted, they've always been tough here and there and this will be no exception. They changed the shape, maybe a bit more to how they played in the Championship.

“But they have a really good process and the high pressing is unbelievable, man-to-man, so aggressive and they defend so tight and compact. It's a complete team. We've played many years against them and it's always so difficult.”