Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has committed to making changes to his starting lineup for the upcoming match against Brentford on Wednesday in the quarter-finals of the English Carabao Cup. City is preparing for a new match at their 'Etihad' stadium just 72 hours after a hard-fought away victory over Crystal Palace 3-0, keeping their hopes alive for the Premier League title and the pursuit of Arsenal. After their 2-1 win over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the Champions League, Guardiola and his players are set to face five Premier League matches between December 20 and January 7. With the title race heating up, the Brentford match presents Guardiola with an opportunity to rest key players and make some changes. According to the British PA Media agency, the team will be missing several players who are away on international duty for the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, such as Egyptian Omar Marmoush and Algerian Aït Nouri. At a press conference on Tuesday, Guardiola said: 'We have now lost Ryan and Omar, in addition to the injured John Stones and Jeremy Doku, and we will see what happens. This match is a step towards the semi-final.' Guardiola indicated that 'a number of substitute players will feature, as we have a shorter rest period of 3 to 4 days between games.' The Spanish coach confirmed that 'we will rely on some of the club's academy players, as we face West Ham in the league on Saturday.' He explained, 'I don't mean that the Carabao Cup is not a priority for us, but we usually have to make changes due to the absence of key players and a high number of injuries.' Under Guardiola, Manchester City won the Carabao Cup four consecutive times between 2018 and 2021, but the team has not reached the final in the last four years.
