PEP GUARDIOLA joked he and old rival Jurgen Klopp might have to play themselves in next month’s Carabao Cup clash.
The old foes have been drawn together in the fourth round – with the fixture set to take place only three or four days after the World Cup final.
Guardiola admits he has no idea what his team will look like as most of his squad are heading for Qatar this weekend.
He explained that those who go out early will be back in contention but others whose nations go deep in the tournament will need a break.
So his squad could be so threadbare that the 51-year-old might have to pull on his boots himself.
He said: “Yes I am going to play holding midfield and Jurgen is going to play left back – this is the strategy.”
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Guardiola will have just a handful of players staying behind and a training camp in Abu Dhabi has been pencilled in for early December.
He added: “I don’t know how many we will have. Riyad doesn’t go to the World Cup, Erling Haaland, Sergio Gomez, Rico Lewis too but the rest are going.
“If they go through the group stage to the last 16 then they need to have some days off.
“If players don’t get through the group stage they will be able to play against Liverpool. If not, we will see.
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“After the World Cup we are here to train, see how many we have for Liverpool.
“When we take breakfast we will see who we have. Players will come back day by day and I don’t know in what condition.”
Even so, Pep says he feels sorry for the players who are not involved – particularly Haaland and Mahrez.
He added: “I’d love for them all to be going.
“I would prefer Erling to go with Norway, that they’d qualified. I think he will be in Marbella and Norway and then come back to training.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
