As League Cup Approaches, Pep Guardiola will turn to the Manchester City Academy

Pep Guardiola says he is likely to select an academy filled side against Bournemouth on Thursday.

City begin a long quest for a fourth-successive Carabao Cup with a third-round tie at home to the Cherries, just three days after our Premier League opener at Wolves, which saw a fine performance to win 3-1.

With City’s preparation for the new season being shortened and with seven first-teamers currently unavailable through illness or injury, the acdemy should get a shine.

Guardiola said-

“Against Bournemouth we will play mostly players in the academy and try to keep energy for the Premier League.

“With the lack of preparation and seven players out, we have to keep the players who played today as fresh as possible.

“We will see how the players recover. We won the Carabao Cup three times and we want to win again but we will have to see.

“It is what it is. We have to adapt. Winning away in this stadium is so difficult. That’s why it’s a good victory for us.

“We cannot pretend we can recover in three days. That’s the situation we have.”

For the game Thursday expect to see the names of Tommy Doyle, Liam Dunlap, Carlos Borges and maybe many more.

We’ll see if the academy is ready for a huge challenge.