Pep Guardiola would rather not face struggling Southampton this weekend after smashing Sparta Prague in the Champions League.
Manchester City cruised past their Czech opponents on Wednesday with two Erling Haaland goals in a 5-0 thrashing, and despite a growing injury count their home record does not look under threat against a Southampton side at the wrong end of the Premier League. The Blues have not lost in any competition since November 2022 (yes, penalty shootout defeats do not count) and Saints are winless in eight matches home and away this year.
Guardiola, however, is not relishing the expectation that weighs on his City side as they look to continue their strong start to the campaign. With a few days to prepare for the match after Sparta, the manager usually prefers a tougher match to ensure that no complacency seeps into his squad.
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"There are always bad results. Look at Wolves and then we struggled to win. [Southampton] were good against Brentford, United for the first half hour so they have good moments and courage to play," he said.
"Always after the Champions League I prefer to play against teams better in the table because we are focused and a big mistake we can do is just look at the table but it is what it is."
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