I might play academy players v Tottenham - Pep Guardiola speaks out on Man City selection dilemma

Pep Guardiola has said he won’t take any risks when selecting his Manchester City side against Tottenham Hotspur and could be forced to call up several youngsters into the first-team squad.

City face seven games in 21 days in between the October and November international break, and with the Blues playing four league games and two in the Champions League in that period, Wednesday’s Carabao Cup clash at Spurs has been deemed as the least important fixture.

Guardiola even admitted after eliminating Watford in the third round that he wouldn’t ‘waste energy’ on the competition and claimed City could play their ‘second team’. The hectic schedule has been compounded by a lack of available players in recent weeks.

Six of Guardiola’s first-team squad missed Saturday’s win over Southampton through injury and none are expected back for the midweek trip to the capital. City have named just seven players on the bench in each of their last two games, including two goalkeepers.

Speaking ahead of the Southampton game, Guardiola admitted that he is concerned about the number of players he is currently working with and said that having just 15 outfield players is a problem. It means City don’t have too many options to rotate against Spurs, but Guardiola plans to rest anyone who needs it.

“We have to take care of ourselves. Good sleep, drinks, good food, sleep a lot, training and recovery,” the Catalan said on Saturday. “We are who we are. I would love to have everyone, it's not the position. 

“We are few, few people. Okay, we have to do what we have do to. I don't know if I'm going to think against Spurs, maybe some players from the academy. I don't know. We will see tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. Fortunately we have four days [off], not three. 

“We are going there to compete but the main target is Bournemouth, Sporting and Brighton before the international break. We are not going to take a decision… if the players are fine they are going to play against Spurs but if they have doubts I'm not going to take a risk against Spurs, that's for sure.”

City’s trip to Tottenham is the first of four consecutive away games before the November international break, followed by Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday.