“I’m going to play holding midfielder” – Pep Guardiola makes Jurgen Klopp joke & Man City selection claim ahead crunch clash this week

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City will resume domestic commitments with an EFL Cup clash against Liverpool next week, a matter of days after the World Cup final

Most players will only be making their way back into team training from the World Cup and it is extremely normal for sides to be understaffed at this moment in time.

Guardiola saw 16 players jet off to the Middle East for the World Cup – more than any other team in England and nine more than the Reds. De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan were the only players to see their team exit in the group stage.

Five of six Liverpool representatives qualified for the knock-out stage making their return take that extra time. And at such a time when the teams are understaffed, Man City boss Pep Guardiola made a giggle-worthy joke about the managers filling in for the players. Here is what he said via The Mirror:

“He’s [Klopp] going to play at left-back, I’m going to play holding midfielder,”

During their playing days, Jurgen Klopp predominantly played as a right-back for Mainz and Guardiola established himself as a good holding midfielder for Barcelona. With the lack of players at the moment, the Spaniard joked that the team managers will have to do the extras.

City are still waiting for several first team stars to return from holidays following the World Cup, while striker Julian Alvarez is still in Qatar ahead of the final with Argentina.

The Premier League holders played their first – and only – friendly of the winter World Cup break on Saturday against sister club Girona, winning 2-0 with both Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne getting on the scoresheet.

But only four other senior players – Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez, backup left-back Sergio Gomez and number two goalkeeper Stefan Ortega – were involved in the match.

The rest of the matchday squad was comprised of youth players and Guardiola is not optimistic about the state of his team going into Thursday’s Carabao Cup showdown with Liverpool at the Etihad.

Speaking after City’s friendly win against Girona on Saturday, Guardiola provided an update on how his squad is looking ahead of City’s return to action.

“At the moment, we have four or five players, and we will have to wait and see how the others come back,” he told City’s website.

“But we just don’t have players because the big brains of football decided this schedule and we are going to play this game [against Liverpool].

“Some players are coming back now and in the next few days and step by step, they will re-join their teammates here.

“People are coming back soon. Nathan (Ake), Aymer (Laporte), and Rodri, and later the players from the England and Portugal teams.”