Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola showed a lot of respect to Salford City ahead of their third round FA Cup clash this weekend.
The Manchester City manager was quick to praise the Ammies, as they are set to compete in their first ever third round fixture.
Guardiola was also able to share there there is a local dimension to the fixture as he said: “Well I’m living in Salford [for] the last eight years, so I will play against my neighbourhood, my hometown, where I am living.”
However, despite being a resident of the city of Salford, Karl Robinson’s side will be looking to make a statement against the current English champions.
The Ammies are coming into the fixture hot in form now sitting 3rd in the league, and Karl Robinson‘s efforts were acknowledged by the Manchester City manager.
“A lot of respect for the manager. We played years ago when he was at Oxford and he was the assistant coach for Sam Allardyce when they played in Leeds.”
The Manchester City manager also credited the Ammies for their recent form, he said: “In the last six games, six clean sheets, so huge respect for them, what they do, the intensity.
“We will take it seriously of course and hopefully we can have a good game and make it three victories in a row, long time [that it] didn’t happen.”
The Cityzens are without three consecutive wins since October 2024, and will be eyeing up the opportunity as they meet the League Two side.
The Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola shared in today’s press conference that he will consider making changes for Saturday’s third-round tie.
Salford will be walking into the fixture with a lot of confidence showing their defensive strength, and talent to climb the league table.
However, Salford’s defensive strength could be tested as Guardiola hinted that Erling Haaland could feature tomorrow.
The dangerous striker has netted 21 times this season in 2,386 minutes on the field and will be real test for the Salford backline.
However, the Manchester City manager has left fans guessing, as he said: “You will see tomorrow, but he feels good.
“He’s had some niggles but we’ve had seven days from West Ham to Salford and he’s recovered well. With the situation that we have, we need everyone ready.”
Saturday’s short trip to the Etihad Stadium will also offer the Ammies the chance to boost their profile, with Guardiola also giving credited to the Salford owners.
He said: “They won a lot of titles, these generational players. They won a lot of money so they can buy clubs. It’s good.
“There’s Gary Neville, David Beckham, I don’t know all the players involved but they are smart people and when people from football run football clubs they always take smart decisions.
“They are in League Two and I’m pretty sure they want to rise like Stockport. The higher you are, the better your perspective.”
The former Manchester United players will be like the fans and dreaming they can elimate the ‘noisy neighbours’ from the FA Cup.
The game will kickoff tomorrow at 17:45pm, and there will be a lot of anticipation around Greater Manchester as the two sides meet in the third round.
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