'I prefer' - Why Pep Guardiola refused alternative in Man City fixture farce

Pep Guardiola revealed that Manchester City were offered the chance of ceding their home advantage in the Carabao Cup to ease their fixture crisis.

City have been handed two games in 49 hours, taking on Watford at the Etihad on the Tuesday this month after hosting Arsenal on the previous Sunday. With an early Saturday kick-off at Newcastle the following weekend, Wednesday would have been the only day possible to avoid undue fatigue for the players but UEFA would not budge a Europa League game at Old Trafford on that night and Greater Manchester Police made it clear that they could not host two major games within a few miles of each other.

Guardiola was offered extra rest for the cup on condition of extra travel for the players, but instead chose to prioritise preparations for the Premier League and a trip to St James' Park. While the manager hopes not to put any of his players through two starts in three days, he is hoping that the home support can pull through an extended squad.

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"It's going to happen many many times for teams that play in all competitions," said Guardiola. "To give an alternative, to play on [Wednesday] away in London to have more days but then we had a Saturday game in Newcastle and we prioritise more rest for Newcastle.

"We're going to play on Tuesday because we could not play on Wednesday because United play in the Europa League and the police won't accept it. It's going to happen many times. When someone creates more competitions, it will be worse.

"People say with players and managers with the money they shouldn’t complain but it's not,