City will adapt to busy schedule, says Guardiola | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola says he will make squad selections on a game-by-game basis amid City’s busy winter schedule.

Men's Team

Pep provides injury update ahead of Sunderland clash

The Blues will play four games in nine days starting with our trip to Sunderland on New Year’s Day which is also the first of nine matches across January in all competitions.

The Catalan has named an unchanged starting lineup six times so far this season, sticking to his trusted formula during our ongoing winning streak of eight straight matches.

But with the fixture list intensifying over the coming weeks, Guardiola detailed his plan to examine the availability of his players ahead of each individual fixture across the next month.

“There are many reasons [for naming the same starting lineup], the City boss explained.

“Availability as one and then the second is it’s a new squad with new players and a lot of players for the first season and sometimes we give consistency to them.

“There are a lot of considerations. Maybe, some players and new players being played regularly sometimes helps. I don’t have a prediction when I start the season or even three four days ago what I’m going to do tomorrow.

Men's Team

Analysing Sunderland ahead of our New Year’s Day meeting

“I take the decision I take and see, but it’s right lately we played the same guys with the schedule we have ahead of us, in two days we will arrive at 3am [after Sunderland] and two days later we have Chelsea.

“After that we have Brighton who are a really tough opponent like tomorrow will be [against Sunderland]. We don’t have many players to rotate so we’ll see what is my feeling and we will decide.”

Sunderland v City | Match preview

In both transfer windows in 2025, City refreshed our playing squad and laid fresh foundations for the future with a number of exciting acquisitions.

Guardiola explained that the busy January activity at the start of the year was in the face of ongoing injury issues, but he reaffirmed his desire to work with everyone at the Club to decide what’s best for his squad.

He added: “What I said many times, last season we had a lot of injured players. In the winter time we didn’t have other options to do it.

“This is one of the youngest squads I’ve had. It’s what the club decides and I don’t decide alone, I decide with the club. With Txiki, Hugo and Ferran and we are where we are.”

City v Brighton tickets on general sale

We welcome an entertaining Brighton side to the Etihad at 19:30 (UK) on Wednesday 7 January.

And with tickets now on general sale, you could be there to see it!

Fans can now claim three tickets each, with adults from £30 and concessions as low as £15.

Or make it a night to remember with hospitality packages starting from just £180 per person and a wide range of experiences available to suit your budget.

Kick off the new year in style!