Pep Guardiola drops Manchester City selection hint for Brentford Carabao Cup quarter-final | OneFootball

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed that James Trafford will start in goal for the Blues in their Carabao Cup quarter-final tie with Brentford on Wednesday night.

City can pick up a sixth consecutive win in all competitions against the Bees and register their place in the Carabao Cup semi-final, having claimed a hard-fought yet equally impressive 3-0 win over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.

The Blues are in a rich vein of form and have kept the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal since September, having cut the gap to Mikel Arteta’s side to two points earlier this month by beating Sunderland in the aftermath of a rare Gunners slip-up at Villa Park.

Rodri, Mateo Kovacic and John Stones remained missing for City at the weekend in south London, with Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush also departing for the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations this week. Jeremy Doku was also a surprise exclusion from the matchday squad at Selhurst Park after picking up a leg injury.

Tijjani Reijnders came in for Doku against Palace as Guardiola made just the one change to Manchester City’s starting XI from Madrid, where the Blues came from behind to seal a monumental 2-1 win over Xabi Alonso’s side to take a giant step towards qualification for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.

On whether he plans to make a lot of changes against Brentford, Guardiola said: “Yeah, yeah. James (Trafford) is going to play, all the players that didn’t play recently are going to play – plus some that played (against Crystal Palace) – and of course, some from the academy because after three days, we have West Ham,” in a press conference on Sunday.

“And I’m not saying it’s the priority, it’s getting to the semi-final of the Carabao Cup – but normally when we achieve it, it’s because we have all the squad, no injuries, can rotate, the team is good and after (that), we got to the last stages. But, when you’re one game away to the semi-finals, if you can take it, take it! Because you never know when it’s coming back.”

Guardiola also commented on how City’s squad will cope with the losses of Ait-Nouri and Marmoush to AFCON and his side’s chances of winning the Carabao Cup this season. “Well, we lost now Rayan (Ait-Nouri) and Omar (Marmoush to AFCON),” the Catalan added.

“We have some injuries like John (Stones) and Rodri. But of course we want the step to get (into) the semi-finals. At home against Brentford, I know how difficult they are for obvious reasons – we have seen – but we are going to play to do it.

“In previous seasons, we were sometimes in the beginning (of the Carabao Cup campaign) facing tough teams – Newcastle and Tottenham away – but performed really well. In the other ones, we had a lot of injuries. When you have a lot, it’s being fit for the Premier League or other competitions is more important than that (the Carabao Cup).

“We’ll see, I didn’t reflect – I was so focussed on (Real) Madrid and Crystal Palace. Now we have less recovery, three days not four. Of course, the players who didn’t play recently are going to play, but we have to play some players and the academy as well.”

City have a demanding festive schedule looming as December progresses and Guardiola will be looking forward to shuffling his ranks against Brentford on Wednesday, though the 54-year-old will take a lesson or two from his horror decision to make 10 changes against Bayer Leverkusen that led to a 2-0 defeat at home in November.

On how minutes against Brentford can benefit those who played in the disappointing loss to Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League, Guardiola said: “I know them. They are good. They are top. Maybe in that game (against) Leverkusen, we missed a father figure on the pitch.

“There are players that it’s not about the quality, it’s about how he leads, being safe. There are players that still they don’t have – for age, the process – to say, ‘It doesn’t matter what happens’. They say, ‘Okay, close to me, this player and this player, I feel safe, I’m going to behave like I am’. And when they don’t have it, it’s like, ‘Oh! I have to do it!’.

“It’s a process, they’re young, didn’t play much. And it’s a lesson, I learned that, you have to find the balance. But of course, there are players with a lot of minutes, three days, now travel (home to Manchester from London), we arrive late in Manchester.

“We don’t have much time to recover, and I have to – with the physios, doctors – see really, because the important game is West Ham. After West Ham, we have seven days, time to recover, but West Ham is – I’m sorry – so, so important.”

Those in the City senior squad but on the fringes of the starting XI, such as academy graduate Rico Lewis – who has struggled for minutes in recent months – can send a timely reminder of their quality to Guardiola by taking the Brentford quarter-final by the scruff of the neck.