Liverpool head to Manchester on Thursday evening in the Carabao Cup
Sergio Gomez says Manchester City will be ready for Liverpool’s visit to Etihad Stadium later this week, despite boss Pep Guardiola admitting he has no idea who would be available.
The Citizens were the Premier League’s best-represented club at the World Cup finals in Qatar they had 16 players involved across the 32 teams. One made it all the way to the final, with Julian Alvarez playing a key role in Argentina’s first World Cup victory in 36 years against France last night at the Lusial Stadium.
But Gomez, who joined City from Anderlecht in the summer, believes City will be ready to face Liverpool regardless of who is available.
“The players that were in Abu Dhabi for the short pre-season had the opportunity to be ready for the next games,” the wing-back explained to City’s official website. “For some other players there may be less time to prepare.
“We need all the players in our roster and when they are all back from the World Cup we’re expecting they will feel strong and be ready to play again. “I feel prepared to perform and hope to play a vital part.”
Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin de Bruyne are also set to be part of Guardiola’s plans after they made an earlier-than-anticipated return to City Football Academy following Germany and Belgium’s shock group stage losses. City will also be able to call on Eriling Haaland, who has been able to refill himself since the Premier League was suspended in early November due to Norway’s failure to qualify for the finals.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are anticipated to be allowed to nominate Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold to their Carabao Cup fourth-round team. However, Klopp stated following the friendly victory over AC Milan on Friday that Virgil van Dijk will not be called upon for the match but may play against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Monday.
It means that Stefan Bajcetic, Bobby Clark, and Ben Doak could all be named to the matchday squad at the Etihad as the Reds face their first major test in defending their record-breaking League Cup trophy, which they won in February with a penalty shoot-out win over Chelsea at Wembley.
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