Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says the pace in the Manchester United team could cause problems for his side ahead of Tuesday’s (today) Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg at Old Trafford.
In their first meeting in the Premier League at the Etihad this season, United won 2-1 thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
And speaking ahead of their trip to Old Trafford, Guardiola said: “It will be quite similar. Of course at Old Trafford it will be quite different to here, but they are a team that are built to run.
“When they can run they are one of the best teams, and not just in England, I would say, because of the pace they have – [Daniel] James, [Mason] Greenwood, [Anthony] Martial, [Marcus] Rashford and [Jesse] Lingard.
“I have the feeling they are going to run, one or two or three times, or as many times as possible, and we have to reduce the mistakes in the build-up. We have to be prepared for that but we have to do our game.”
Guardiola stated his side will go into the game with the hope of getting a positive return for the reverse fixture.
He added: “I am not going to prepare our game just thinking, ‘don’t let them run’.
“We have to go there and try to score a goal, play our game and try to get a good result from there.
“Except the first minutes when we conceded three or four times when they could run, the rest of the game I liked a lot the game we played and the chances we created in many situations.
“I would like to play quite similar.”
City are the current holders of the Carabao Cup after they beat Chelsea on penalties in last season’s final.
The other semi-final will see Leicester City take on Aston Villa.
