Man City

Manchester City eased to a comfortable 2-0 win in their winter friendly on Saturday thanks to goals from two of their biggest stars.

It's a good game to fill in the break. 'It's going to be a really good game against Liverpool. [Manchester City](/sport/teampages/manchester-city.html) eased to a comfortable 2-0 win in their winter friendly on Saturday thanks to goals from two of their biggest stars.

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 ...

Their involvement in the Qatar tournament will have ensured their remain match fit, but English football is entering its notorious Christmas period, which will see City play five times in 17 days. Guardiola and Klopp were players before turning their hands to coaching and the Catalan had joked that he will roll back the years to help with his selection problems. 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). As a result, Guardiola is struggling to pick a competitive side with a place in the last eight of the EFL Cup at stake. There was always concern this season about the scheduling of the English football calendar, which had to accommodate the first-ever winter World Cup. Players will come back, but I don't know in what condition." De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan were the only players to see their team exit in the group stage, hence their early return. The English champions, who won the [EFL Cup](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/efl-cup) for four straight years until they were dethroned last term, will welcome a Reds team who arrive as holders. Nathan [Ake], Aymer [Laporte], and Rodri, and later the players from the England and Portugal teams.” "I don't know how many players we will have. People are coming back soon. [Manchester City](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/manchester-city-fc) boss has been watching the bulk of his squad at the [World Cup](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/world-cup-2022?service=responsive) in [Qatar](https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/qatar) over the past month and very few have returned thus far.

Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte and Rodri are expected to return to City training early in the week and could feature in the squad for the cup clash against ...

It was good minutes for all of them.' Despite early group stage exits with Germany and Belgium, both Gundogan and De Bruyne resumed training inside a fortnight. - Manchester City play Liverpool in the EFL Cup just days after the World Cup final

Man City take on Liverpool in the League Cup on Thursday and manager Pep Guardiola is unsure what kind of team he will be able to put out.

The Premier League champions are due to play three games before the turn of the year. "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]. The City boss will be short of options for the fixture as 14 of his players are yet to return to training following their exploits at World Cup 2022.

Pep Guardiola has hit out at FIFA due to the shortage of players at Manchester City's disposal for Thursday's Carabao Cup tie with Liverpool.

Discussing Alvarez's trip to the final with Argentina, Guardiola added: "We are all so happy for him, all of us. "People are coming back soon. "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.

Liverpool know a thing or two about harsh assessments of full-backs. Viewed through the same lens, a Man City transfer 'target' must make FSG feel pretty ...

[Trent Alexander-Arnold](https://www.liverpool.com/liverpool-fc-news/features/liverpool-gareth-southgate-england-call-25738613) questioned for his defensive work, it is important that others are held to the same standards. The Scotland international captain has been one of Klopp's most consistent players since FSG signed him from Hull for £8m (€9m/$10m) in 2017, and is now regarded as one of the most reliable options in Europe. But given that he would be coming up against [Mohamed Salah](https://www.liverpool.com/liverpool-fc-news/features/liverpool-milan-mohamed-salah-winners-25773809), Jürgen Klopp will have no concerns about any potential arrival at the Etihad Stadium. [Bukayo Saka](https://www.liverpool.com/liverpool-fc-news/features/liverpool-jurgen-klopp-bukayo-saka-25686308) — and that will undoubtedly put question marks over whether he could be consistent in the Premier League. Using the brutal Alexander-Arnold benchmark, it seems likely that the left-back will come up short. He may have scored during France's 2-0 victory over Morocco to help secure progress to the World Cup final, but Hernández has left a lot to be desired in terms of his defensive work across the tournament. [Lionel Messi](https://www.liverpool.com/liverpool-fc-news/features/lionel-messi-liverpool-transfer-klopp-25747303) looks to cement his own legend with success in Sunday's final, the Argentina star could benefit from a match-up that will be Hernández's toughest test yet — and one that will be decisive in whether [Ibrahima Konaté](https://www.liverpool.com/liverpool-fc-news/features/liverpool-ibrahima-konate-jurgen-klopp-25775852) returns to Merseyside as a World Cup winner. That's an impressive goal contribution rate from the wing-back position, but he looks to be some way off the consistency that Liverpool enjoy with Andy Robertson. He replaced his stricken brother in the opener against Australia, and has since been asked to play all but one game. In an ever-changing football climate that can protect players who have enjoyed success against lesser opposition, many can be untested until they are called to the big stage. [Kostas Tsimikas](https://www.liverpool.com/liverpool-fc-news/features/harvey-elliott-liverpool-dua-lipa-25597665), it is unlikely that a switch to the Premier League by Hernández would represent a power shift of any kind towards Manchester City. [Sign up to the Liverpool.com newsletter here — it only takes a few seconds!](https://www.liverpool.com/newsletter-preference-centre/)